The Garden Between Our Windows
by augustlullaby
Summary: AU Grenna. The Carver family move back to Boston after 4 years of being away and rent the house that belongs to the Danville. Brenna hates the idea of moving back, but she is willing to try. Love sparks when you're most unexpected. Rate M to be safe. Some parts follow canon.
1. Chapter 1

Tittle: The Garden Between Our Windows

Rating: M for language and sexual content (later)

Pairing: Grenna

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

A/N: Hello there. I want to contribute something to this fandom, especially since we don't have that many fics yet. It took some courage for me to post this and share with you, but I hope you'll enjoy it.

* * *

Brenna Carver set her foot down the Boston soil for the first time again after four years.

She was not sure of what to think of it. She had spent those last few years in Los Angeles trying to fit in; but just when she almost succeeded, her mom decided to move back to Boston just because her sister, April, received a job offer from The Boston Post. "Our family needs to stay together. We're moving back!" Brenna recalled what her mom happily declared.

Ever since April broke the news, their mom and grandma seemed to be much happier. It was like April just threw a ball of light in their direction. Their mom had been talking about going out to her favorite coffee shop, while their grandma couldn't wait to meet up with her friends to play cards and gossip about boys.

Brenna knew that everyone in the family missed Boston. It was home after all. April's job offer was just a perfect excuse to get them to move back; but Brenna was not sure herself. Boston was the place they lost their dad, and with their house now gone, it didn't feel like home anymore.

"Honey, are you alright?" Her mom asked and that snapped Brenna out of her thoughts.

"Yea mom, just a little overwhelming." Brenna sighed. From now on her life was going to change again. She hurriedly followed her family onto the cab that her mom probably called over while Brenna was lost in her thoughts.

The cab was taking them to some familiar roads, but Brenna knew they weren't going _home_. The place where they used to call home was now home for a happy couple with their 3 children. Brenna cried that whole day when their mom announced the house was sold. She was 13 and it was difficult to understand why they had to sell the house. "It's time for us to move on, Brenna," her mom had solemnly said.

Move on.

Brenna remembered blaming her mom and everyone else for moving on. How could they move on so quickly? The house was sold just 2 weeks after their father's death. She remembered being so angry with everyone for acting like nothing had happened just 2 weeks later. She thought, _fine_, she didn't care if everyone else had already moved on, but why did they have to rush her, too? When they handed the key over to the new owners of the house, Brenna felt like someone just stole a part of her and she just wanted to scream at the couple for taking it away from her.

But she didn't. Instead, she just gave the couple's 5-year-old twin daughters a piece of paper that she wrote the night before.

She gave them a list of her memories, happy memories that she spent with house.

* * *

The cab came to a stop and Brenna looked outside the window. They stopped in front of a big white house that looked more like a castle. It had balconies and it looked like a house that could be feature on a movie.

"Oh look at that house! So Romeo and Juliet. I totally want the room with the balcony." Their grandma swooned.

"If you're thinking we're staying there, we're not, mom," said their mom to their grandma. "We're staying at the one next to it."

Brenna quickly looked over to the right and saw the one that their mom was talking about. It was similar to the other house but just smaller in size.

"I stand my ground." Grandma grinned, and that made Brenna smiled for the first time in days.

After their mom paid for the cab fare, April came out to meet them. April decided to get to Boston first so that she could settle everything down before the whole family officially moved back, which was a good thing considered school was starting soon.

"Everyone made it!" April said excitedly and gave everyone a hug. "Bren, you're going to love this house."

"Yea, maybe." Brenna murmured. Nowadays, she found herself using that word a lot. Brenna, are you ready to move? Maybe. Brenna, are you ready to see your friends again? Maybe.

Because she was not sure what answer they wanted to hear.

Behind April, Brenna saw Beth Kingston came out from the house. Beth was April's best friend. Beth was also like another sister to Brenna, so it was not a surprise to see her here.

"Hi everyone," Beth greeted the Carver with her usual Australian accent. "I'm just so happy to see everyone back here again in Boston! No offend but this would save me a lot of money from going back and forth between Los Angeles and here. I took way too many trips to California in the last 4 years."

"Well, aren't you the happiest." Their Grandma laughed, followed by everyone.

Except Brenna, and everybody saw that.

"Cheer up, buttercup. You'll be fine," Beth reassured. "Here, let me take your bag and April will show you around the house." Beth took Brenna's bag as April pulled Brenna inside.

The first impression Brenna had on the house was that it was spectacular. It was fully furnished and almost everything in the house was made out of wood. The large windows allowed so much light inside. It reminded Brenna of their old kitchen, which was always full of sunlight during the day. The whole house also smelled like vanilla.

"Your room is upstairs, next to mine," April informed Brenna. "Gramps and mom's are the two rooms on the left," April pointed to the two rooms next to the kitchen, "so that we will have privacy in our room, you know, without them checking on us all the time." She winked.

"I heard that!" Their mom yelled which left them in small giggles.

April smiled at Brenna, "See, it's not so bad. I don't want to see you being moody all the time. You're just 17. Live your life, be happy!"

"Maybe," Brenna nodded. "I'll try."

* * *

Brenna went up to check out her new room, and oddly enough she liked it. The wall was painted white and the balcony allowed a lot of light inside. April already set up a few photos around the room so it didn't feel so alien. She set her stuffs down the queen size bed, and once again reminded herself that maybe moving back was a good thing.

Brenna came back downstairs to everyone trying to unpack, so she fixed her focus onto the house next to theirs through the glass window. She assumed both house belong to a large family, so she was quite surprised when she overheard April telling their mom that the landowners only had one daughter and most of the time she was the only one that was home.

"She's very nice and friendly. I talked to her a couple of times. I believe she's around your age, Brenna," April guessed. "I think you two could be great friends."

Brenna offered a small smile. She was definitely not in the mood for new friends. She already had too many "new" things in her life right now.

Beth left for work around 6:30pm before everyone had dinner. She explained to their overly worried mom and grandma that she would have dinner at work, since she worked at a coffee shop after all. At dinner, Brenna quickly chomped down her spaghetti and excused herself to go take a bath.

The bathroom was spacious even with a bathtub and a shower stall. Brenna didn't know why they would rent the house this big. She knew they had money from their dad but she felt like renting this house was unnecessary. Their old house, their _home_, was so much smaller but it was perfect. This house just felt empty.

Brenna took off her clothes and lowered herself into the hot water. The whole day was a crazy ride of emotion. She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to relax for just maybe 5 minutes when a noise caused her eyes to open.

She looked around and tried to identify where the noise came from but nothing came up. She closed her eyes again, thought that she misheard it, when something heavy jumped into the bathtub and jolted her awake.

"What the fuck?" Brenna yelled.

Before her eyes, there was a cat. A cat just jumped into her bathtub and now it was trying to get out.

Brenna was left speechless for a few seconds but soon realizing the cat needed help from her to get out of the bubble bath. Brenna braved herself to touch the cat, and as soon as she figured it didn't fight back, she took it out of the bathtub.

"Where did you come from?" she asked the cat, then felt silly, because the cat couldn't possibly answer her back.

She hurriedly get dressed and proceed to carry the cat downstairs. "I found a cat," Brenna announced as she walked down the stairs. "It jumped into my bathtub."

And before anyone could reply, the cat leaped out of her arms and ran into the lap of an unfamiliar blonde girl sat at their dining table.


	2. Chapter 2

Brenna was uncertain of what was happening when her mom spoke, "Brenna, this is Greer. She is our landlord's daughter. She came to say hello as well as looking for her cat."

"I see you solved my problem," Greer put the cat down and quickly stood on her feet. Excitedly, she waved at Brenna. "Hi, I'm Greer. I live next door. It's nice to meet you," when Brenna didn't say anything back, she continued, "I heard that we're going to the same school. You will like it there."

_Great_. Brenna thought. She totally forgot about the chance that the landowner's daughter might be going to the same school.

She hesitated for a moment, but felt a little rude if she didn't speak up, so she offered a small greeting. "Hi," Brenna awkwardly said, "I found your cat in the bathroom."

"Oh I'm sorry about that. She likes to jump and always getting herself in trouble because of that. I saw her jumped to your bathroom from the tree and I came right in to get her. I hope she didn't startle you too much." Greer laughed. "Don't worry about it," Brenna sounded tired. Another silent moment passed. "Sorry. I'm just exhausted right now. Mom, may I be excused?" She sent her mom a look that cried out _help me_, in which her mom nodded in understanding, "Yes, honey. Go to bed and don't forget you have school at eight tomorrow." She mouthed _thank you_ to her mom and quickly walked up the stairs. Even outside her bedroom, she could hear the cat meowing as if the cat was telling her "rude!"

* * *

Brenna's eyes fluttered open as the bright sunlight shone directly on her. She looked around the strange room and wondered where she was at first but then remembered that she was no longer in Los Angeles. Images of yesterday started to flood back, and Brenna reminded herself that she needed to get use to the new surrounding.

A loud knock on the door prompted Brenna to check the clock. "Shit!" she cursed. She slept through the alarm. "Brenna, you don't want to be late on your first day of senior year!" She could hear her mom shouted from outside her room.

"I'm up!" she shouted back. Brenna opened the door and saw her mom stood there with her school uniform all ironed out. "Here, your uniform," her mom handed the uniform to her, "don't you glad you can wear uniform now and save yourself time from choosing what to wear." She kissed Brenna on the head. "Now hurry up and get change. Your breakfast is ready." Brenna groaned tiredly. She wished she had a few days to adjust to the changes, but no, school just won't wait.

Brenna managed to eat her breakfast in just ten minutes and darted out of the house at seven fifteen. The walk to school took Brenna about twenty minutes. It wouldn't suck so much if Brenna got enough sleep last night; but the strange bed, strange room and different time zone weren't in her favor.

Charton Academy was a private high school located right in the neighborhood. Brenna understood that private school equal high tuition fees, but the school wasn't her choice. She would be fine with going to a public school but their mom insisted on Charton Academy. "It's close to where we'll stay, plus I like the environment." She recalled what her mom had said.

It was October. The weather in Boston was getting cooler and the trees were changing. Brenna admitted that she liked the scenery at Charton Academy. She found her way to the guidance office to pick up her schedule, when she heard someone called her name from behind.

"Brenna Carver?" asked a female voice.

Brenna turned back and to her surprise, the voice belonged to Ford, her former best friend.

"Holy shit! It's really you!" Ford exclaimed. "I heard you were back in town but didn't know we would be in the same school again."

Brenna nodded and smiled. After all the new things that were shoved at her direction, finally something old and familiar. "Ford," Brenna beckoned. "Yep I'm back."

"Back for good?" Asked Ford.

"Back for good, I guess."

"Great! Charton bitches need to look out because Brenna Carver is back in town!"

"Ford, I'm not a cool kid anymore," said Brenna.

"What do you mean? If you're with me, you're one of the cool kids." Ford paused and looked passed Brenna's shoulder. "Oh my God, Greer Danville is heading over here." Ford said disgustingly. Brenna turned to look behind her, and indeed, Greer was heading over.

Greer ran up to the two friends. "Hi guys," she greeted, "Brenna, welcome to Charton Academy."

Ignored Greer's greeting, Ford rolled her eyes. "What wind blows you here?" she teased.

"I don't know. The northern wind?" Greer replied, and that made Brenna giggle a bit. "Anyway, Brenna! Have you got your schedule yet?"

"I am about to pick it up." Brenna answered.

"Great. If you need help with getting around the school, feel free to find me."

"No need for that. I can show her around." Ford said confidently. Everyone paid attention to Brenna now, to see her response. Ford nudged Brenna on the shoulder.

"Uhm…thanks, but I think Ford can help me with that," she tried to come up with an excuse, "I don't want to bother you."

Greer picked up the signal that she was not welcomed, so she hesitantly said her good bye and headed toward another group of students.

"What was that all about? You know her?" Ford narrowed her eyes at Brenna.

"Chill, I don't know her. She's just the landlord's daughter." Brenna said forcefully. "Okay, I need to pick up my schedule. See you, Ford," and with that said, she walked inside the guidance office.

* * *

Brenna sighed as soon as she saw her schedule. US history first period, followed by AP English, photography, anatomy & physiology, sewing, and lastly statistic. She silently cursed that they put history as her first class. Everyone and their mother knew she hated history. Defeated, Brenna dragged herself to first period.

The third time Brenna couldn't help but curse that morning was when she noticed Greer Danville sitting in the history classroom. She double-checked the room number only to be left disappointed because the class was, indeed, the right class. Brenna quietly entered the room and chose a seat as far from Greer as possible, not because she hated Greer or anything, but because she felt awkward after the talk earlier.

Brenna didn't know if Greer noticed her or not, but for that whole period they didn't acknowledge each other.

The whole school day came and went, and by the time the bell rang at two twenty, Brenna was glad. She was ready to get out because she wanted to go somewhere.

The cab took her down the road where she spent her first thirteen years of her life. The house looked pretty much the same, except the sign _beware of dog_ she made with her dad was now gone. She wanted to go up and asked if she could just go in and look around, but couldn't find the courage to do so. In the end, she told the cab driver to drive her back to Greer's place. Funny, Brenna thought, she couldn't even bring herself to call it home.

Since it was still early, and she didn't have much homework to do, she decided to go explore outside their new place. For a place this big, it felt really empty. Brenna could almost hear herself breathing. The only other sound she heard was the wind chime on the tree nearby.

That was when she saw Greer.

Still in uniform, Greer seemed to be doing something Brenna couldn't tell. A few steps closer and Brenna realized Greer was watering flowers.

"Aren't they pretty?" Greer asked and caught Brenna by surprise, because Brenna didn't know that Greer saw her.

"Here," Greer picked up a daisy, "for you."

Brenna received the flower from Greer and gazed at it steadily. She swore she could hear the landlord's daughter laughed at her ridiculousness.

"For your information, I don't bite, Brenna," Greer informed, "So it's okay to talk to me."

Still fixed her focus on the daisy, Brenna nodded. She wanted to say sorry about earlier, but decided against it. She thought it wasn't really her fault anyway.

Then Greer's phone rang and it broke the silence.

"Yes, mom," Greer answered. "I'm outside." Brenna put the flower in her cardigan's pocket. "Okay. I'll get ready." Greer said excitedly and hung up the phone.

"Gotta go, my parents are taking me out for dinner." Greer smiled. "See you at school." And then Greer disappeared inside her house.

* * *

Beth came for dinner later that night and she brought some delicious cupcakes from the coffee shop. Everyone loved hearing what April had to say about her first day at work. Brenna was glad that no one really asked about her first day at school, except the "How was it?" from her mom and "Any boy caught your eyes?" from her grandma; and because Beth wouldn't let her do the dishes after dinner, Brenna just retreated to her room to do her homework.

What Brenna liked about the house was that every room upstairs had a balcony. The balcony wasn't big. She couldn't stretch her whole body when lying down, but it was comfortable enough to sit there and do homework. Brenna managed to finish one page of her history homework, but the rest was just hard to get, not to mention the wind was lulling her to sleep. She didn't even notice the sound of car engine from the next house until she heard voices of people talking.

"Go do your homework, Greer." A man said. He stood next to a very well dressed woman. Based on Greer's earlier conversation, Brenna assumed they were Greer's parents.

Greer went inside the house while her parents got back into the car and drove away. Brenna felt like she had just witnessed such a private moment. She shook her head and put her focus back on the paper. But no matter how many times she read the questions, she just didn't get it.

"God I hate this!" she said out loud in frustration.

"You need help with homework?" asked Greer.

Startled, Brenna looked up to see Greer standing on the opposite balcony.

"Hey," Brenna said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud."

Greer chuckled, "No problem. It's pretty quiet around here anyway. You are welcome to scream out your frustration."

"Were those people your parents?" Brenna blurted out the question only to feel quite stupid right away.

"Oh you saw us? Yea, they're my mom and dad.

"You have no siblings?"

"Nope. Only child. Just me and myself." Greer smiled.

"That sounds so—"

"What? Sad?"

"Yeah," Brenna said softly, "I can't even imagine having no sibling."

"Don't feel sad for me. I'm used to it." Greer assured Brenna. "Sometimes it's good to have my parents' attention all to myself, even if it's not much. If I have siblings, I don't think my parents would have the time to take me out for dinner, like tonight." She laughed at how absurd it sounded.

"You can come and have dinner with us if you like." Brenna said, "but you know, most of the time we eat spaghetti. It's the family's favorite."

Greer stared at Brenna for a while. They were both staring at each other, unsure of what to say. Greer then smiled, and said, "Thank you, Brenna. That means a lot."

The Brenna of yesterday screamed at her for being such an idiot. _You said_ _you don't want new friend! _But the Brenna of today felt a relief ran through her mind and body. Greer told Brenna that she should go and do her homework as well, but stopped before she close the door.

"Brenna?"

"Yea?"

"Why don't you turn on the light switch right next to your door. And by the way, you should look into Black Death if you're struggling with the second page of history homework." Then Greer walked inside.

Brenna felt her face turned a shade of red. _Shit! She knows_. Brenna thought. But of course she knew, since the teacher took roll and their names were called out. Brenna just pretended to not acknowledge that.

Pushed her embarrassment away, Brenna followed Greer's direction and found the light switch. There were no light bubs anywhere so she was really confused on how this light switch would work. Brenna switched it to on and immediately she thought she saw hundred of stars shining from below. It was from the garden. Her mind slowly registered what had happened, and Brenna realized that the whole garden below just lit up. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

Brenna smiled to herself. _Thank you_, she muttered, and picked up her history homework along with her phone. The first thing she did was going on Google and typing in the word Black Death.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you so much for the follows and reviews. Those definitely made my day! Here's chapter 3 and I hope you'll enjoy it.

* * *

"So what is your deal with Greer? You don't seem to like her much." Brenna asked Ford during their lunch break.

"Why? You like her?" Ford said nonchalantly.

"No, of course not. Not in that way anyway."

"Do you know she is gay?"

"I…uh…I don't know." Brenna stuttered. It was the truth. She didn't know that Greer was gay; but apparently Ford knew.

"How'd you know?" Brenna went on.

"Everyone at school knows. She basically came out on the first day of sophomore year by wearing a rainbow shirt that said 'I came out this way'. Lucky for her that she is one of the popular kids so no one cares." Ford explained.

"So is that why you don't like her? Because she's gay?"

"I couldn't care less," Ford frowned. "She's just not one of us. Those popular kids are so pretentious. They pretend to care about everything but in the end it's just a popularity contest."

_But she didn't seem like that kind of person_, Brenna wanted to tell Ford that. But instead, she settled for "You have a point."

* * *

Brenna hated walking to school every morning because the weather in Boston was getting colder. Her mom took the newly bought car to work, April took the subway, and because Charton Academy was just in the neighborhood, plus Brenna didn't have a driver license yet, she had to walk. One time she was chased by a squirrel, which caused a few kindergarteners to laugh at her silliness.

But one time a car stopped by and rolled down its window.

"Brenna, do you need a ride?" It was Greer.

"Oh. Hey," Brenna hunched down to meet with Greer's eyes level, "I think I'm good. Thanks for the offering though,"

"Come on, it's chilly out there. You know you'd appreciate my heater." Greer persisted.

"I don't want to bother you, Greer." Brenna hesitated.

"You didn't, so stop thinking you are. Here, come." And then Greer leaned over the passenger side to open the door for Brenna.

With mixed feelings, she got into the car and closed the door. She thought of Ford, and what her friend would say if Ford saw her with Greer. However, as soon as the warm air hit her face, those thoughts were also pushed aside.

"Do you have any request for music?" Greer asked, "If not I'll just play mine."

"No. Play yours." Brenna responded.

Greer nodded and played her music. They were instrumental.

"I didn't take you for a soundtrack kind of girl."

"What," Greer laughed, "Then what kind of girl do you think I am?"

Brenna thought for a moment. "I don't know. You look like you would listen to pop music."

"I do sometimes. But when I'm driving, I prefer these." She turned the volume up a bit, "Especially when it's so early in the morning. They put my mind at ease."

The drive to school was pleasant. They drove past the kindergarten where the squirrel incident happened, and Brenna was glad that she was now in a car. She told Greer about it and they both laughed from the ridiculousness of the story.

"Brenna, you got chased by a squirrel!" Greer exclaimed.

"Oh, please, like you've never been chased by one before."

"No, because I'm friendly to everyone. Maybe the squirrel sensed that you didn't want to be friend." Greer teased Brenna.

"You're funny."

"And since I'm friendly and I don't want to you have another incident with the squirrel, I am hereby offering you to ride with me for the rest of the year, or until you have a car yourself."

A few moments of silence passed between them.

"Greer, I—"

"Please don't say you don't want to bother me," Greer said. "You know we basically live at the same place and go to the same school…you need a ride and I have a car, so it's not a problem for me at all."

Considering Greer's words for a moment, Brenna nodded.

"Yeah, you're right," She finally said. "Thank you. I guess I owe you." She gave Greer a shy smile. "Come over for dinner tonight. I heard we're going to order Thai."

Greer grinned. "That's my favorite."

Greer dropped off Brenna at the track field and picked her up at the same spot after school. Ford didn't say anything about it so Brenna guessed that Ford didn't see them. That was a good thing, because for now Brenna didn't have to explain anything to her best friend. She would love to keep this as a secret between Greer and herself.

* * *

Brenna's mom, Sara, ordered Thai for dinner. April called and informed that she needed to stay back at work to finish her article, and asked the family to just have dinner without her. Greer came bringing some flowers she said she picked out from the garden, and Sara couldn't stop praising Greer.

"Oh, Greer! How thoughtful of you!" Sara exclaimed.

"I hope you like them, Mrs. Carver." Greer politely said

"Come on in, Greer. I hope you like Thai." Sara smiled.

They became the main topic at dinner. Grandma and mom started to ask them questions about school. Her mom was really impressed when she learned that Greer was the senior class president, as well as ecology club president.

"I didn't know that." Brenna voice came with a tone of surprise. Ford must've known, but because Greer was such an unpopular topic between them, they usually just stayed away from talking about her.

Greer smiled at Brenna. "Well, now you know."

"Look at those dimples. I bet the boys are crazy over them." Grandma casually pointed out and it made Brenna choked a bit on her food. She let her eyes wander to Greer but saw no reaction.

"Mom, please no boys talk," Sara begged, "You're going to make our guest feel uncomfortable."

"It's okay Mrs. Carver," Greer said, and then she turned to Grandma, "The boys do love them." She laughed.

They saved some noodles for April and cleaned up the table. Sara wouldn't let Greer do the dishes, but wanted Brenna to do it. Brenna joked on how her mom favored Greer now. Sara agreed and proceeded on inviting Greer over for dinner anytime she'd like.

After washing all the dishes with a bit of help from Greer, Brenna walked Greer back to her home. Greer tried to tell Brenna it was fine, since her home was just a few steps away, but Brenna insisted.

"My mom is going to kill me if I don't walk you back," she claimed, "Do you know what she told me? 'I like this one, Brenna.'"

"So do I get a 10 then?" Greer asked curiously.

"Yeah…I would give you a 10." Brenna replied.

Then there was silent. Brenna didn't understand why this happened quite often with Greer. One moment they would talk like close friends, and the next moment there would be this awkward feeling hanging around them. Brenna didn't like that at all, she wanted to be normal around Greer. She considered something in her head and went with it.

"CanIhaveyourphonenumber?" Brenna mumbled.

Greer couldn't catch what Brenna said.

Brenna took a deep breath and tried again, but slowly this time.

"Can I have your phone number?"

Greer looked surprise, but she pulled out her phone and handed it to Brenna.

"You can enter your number and I'll call you."

Brenna nodded and started to enter her phone number with her shaky hands. She didn't know why her hands were shaking. She wished Greer would look away, but she knew that Greer's blue eyes were staring at her. For some reasons it made Brenna forgot her own number, and she only got it correctly after a few more tries.

"Here," Brenna handed the phone back to Greer. "Um, I think I should go." she said awkwardly, and turned around to run back to the house. _Oh God_, she thought, she just made it more awkward now.

* * *

Friday nights were usually great, just because Brenna could push her homework aside and watch whatever she wanted. When she was still deciding on what to watch was when her phone received a text.

********8410**: Guess who? :)

Brenna's lips formed a smile. She hit the number, then 'create contact', and then she put in 'Greer Danville'.

_You're my mom's new favorite_, she texted back, and shifted her attention back to the TV.

**Greer Danville**: Oops, the secret is out! But please don't treat me like Cinderella.

Brenna laughed. Greer always managed to make her laugh.

**Greer Danville**: What are you doing?

**Brenna**: I'm picking out something to watch.

**Greer Danville**: I feel like we finally made some progress today, Brenna.

**Brenna**: Yea?

**Greer Danville**: I'm happy that you found out I don't bite :)

When Brenna was about to reply back, she received the next text from Greer.

**Greer Danville**: Good night, Brenna.

And so she deleted what she was about to send, and just texted back with _"Good night, Greer."_

* * *

If anyone ever asked Brenna what would she rather do on a Saturday morning, she would answer, "Sleep, sleep, and sleep!" therefore she was grumpy when a phone call disrupted her dream and woke her up. She stirred around to look for the phone and when she found it, she just slid her thumb across the screen to answer without even looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?" Brenna whispered.

"Brenna! Are you up?"

"Who's this?"

"Um your mom's new favorite?" Greer joked.

_Shit! _Brenna jolted out of her bed. "Hey, Greer. Yeah, I'm up." She tried to sound fresh.

"Go out your balcony. Hurry!" and then Greer hung up.

That was when Brenna realized it was raining.

She opened the door and stepped out the balcony. She looked around, not sure of why Greer wanted her to go out here. A moment later she heard Greer calling her name from below.

"Brenna!" Greer waved. She was in the rain.

"Greer? What are you doing? It's raining." Brenna shouted.

"I know, and that's why I called you up. Don't deny. I knew you were sleeping."

Brenna groaned and covered her face with her hands. That was embarrassing.

"Come down here Brenna, let's take a rain shower." Greer said.

"What?"

"I said let's take a rain shower!"

Brenna was uncertain of why Greer wanted to do that, but she came down anyway. She picked up an umbrella on her way out.

"What is happening?" Brenna asked Greer.

"I just want to give you an official welcoming ceremony to our houses." Greer explained. Brenna noticed Greer was already soaking wet.

"So you need to get rid of this," Greer took the umbrella out of Brenna's hand, carefully folded it up and threw it aside, "and let's have some fun!"

Greer grabbed Brenna's hand and started to lead her to where she put the water balloons. Brenna's heart did a funny flip.

"Go big or go home," Greer took one and threw at Brenna. The cold water definitely woke her up now. "Game on!" Brenna declared, and threw two water balloons at Greer.

"Ouch!" The water balloons hit Greer's arm.

"Sorry, not sorry." Brenna smirked.

They spent the whole morning out in the cold weather, under the rain, but no one really cared. Their laughter could be heard from blocks. They had water balloons fight until they ran out of balloons. Brenna surrender when her stomach started to make noises.

"I'm hungry." Brenna said.

They agreed to go in and find something to eat. Brenna handed Greer a towel, and after changing out of the wet clothes in her room, she found some clothes for Greer to change. "Quickly, go change. I don't have any new pair of underwear though." Brenna said shyly.

Greer knew she could just go back home and get her own clothes, but she didn't say anything. She just nodded and headed to the bathroom. When she came out, she was fully dressed in Brenna's clothes. The shirt fitted snug on her, and Brenna pretended not to stare so intensely.

"Are those popcorns?" Greer asked, pointing at a bowl of popcorns Brenna prepared.

"Oh. Yeah. Are you in the mood for movie?"

"I'm always in the mood for movie." Greer replied.

It took them fifteen minutes to finally decided on a movie. They chose _Pretty in Pink_, because apparently it was a movie Greer knew every line, and Brenna needed proof of the claim. They settled on Brenna's bed for comfort. When the movie started, Brenna asked Greer to repeat what the characters said, but only five minutes in and Brenna knew she was already lost because Greer was right, she knew every single line.

Forty minutes in the movie, somehow Brenna felt tired and her eyes were giving up on her. She tried to fight back sleep but it wasn't working, so she allowed her eyes to close for a bit, silently prayed that Greer didn't notice because she didn't want to be the person that suggested watching movie only to end up sleeping.

* * *

_Brenna Carver is sleeping on my shoulder, _Greer thought.

Greer didn't know what to do. When Brenna suggested watching a movie, she would never envision them to become like this. Greer was contemplating whether or not to wake Brenna up, when she felt Brenna's hot breath against her neck. Realizing something was wrong, she put her hand on Brenna's forehead just to feel it was burning.

"Oh no. Brenna, wake up," Greer tried to shake her, "Brenna!"

Brenna slowly opened her eyes and registered that she fell asleep.

"Crap. I am so sorry," Brenna panicked, "I am such a terrible friend." She grabbed a nearby pillow and buried her face in it.

"No, Brenna. _I am _the terrible friend. You're having a fever! I think it was from the rain this morning. I am so so sorry."

Brenna was confused for a split second and then she laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" Greer threw a pillow at Brenna.

"I'm just glad that I didn't just suddenly fall asleep. I mean I would be so ashamed. But now I have this fever to back me up."

"Not funny, Brenna. I feel terrible." Greer pouted.

"I feel fine Greer, just a little tired. I'll drink some fever reducers." The truth was, Brenna felt very tired, but she didn't want Greer to feel bad about it, and that pout was not helping either.

Not too long after, Brenna's mom came home and got her some medicine. They hid the fact that they were out in the rain that whole morning to save Brenna from some scolding. "My mom would say I'm immature," Brenna said, "But she'll tell you that you have a creative way to have fun, since you're her favorite."

"You're going to tease me with that forever, aren't you?" Greer said while putting on her shoes.

"Maybe." Brenna chuckled.

That night Greer couldn't sleep. Not because of Brenna's fever, but because the image of Brenna sleeping on her shoulder kept coming back to her mind. She was sure Brenna could hear how loud her heart was beating, if the movie wasn't on and of course, if Brenna wasn't asleep. Greer knew what that meant; but she was not ready to fall for a girl, without knowing if she'll have a chance or not.

She picked up her phone and looked at the time. 1:36am. She sighed in frustration. _I need to stop thinking about her_.

But at the right moment, Greer received a text from Brenna.

**Brenna Carver:** Not sure if you're still up but I'm going to send this text anyway. I had fun today. The fever is worth it.

Greer smiled. If only Brenna knew she was the reason that kept her up.

"Welcome back to Boston, Brenna Carver." Greer replied, and then buried herself under the thick blanket while praying that sleep would come.


	4. Chapter 4

Monday came with an announcement from the history teacher, Mrs. Collins. Everyone in class needed to get in a group of two or three for their history project.

"The project is for your midterms. That's why I want everyone to start early so you'll be able to turn them in on time." Mrs. Collins announced at the beginning of the class.

Brenna could hear her fellow classmates complaining from all directions. "But Mrs. Collins, it's only October!" the guy sat in front of her stressed, and some guy behind her repeated desperately, "It's only October!"

Mrs. Collins was unfazed by the student's whining. Brenna was sure her teacher was so used to all of this. "Doesn't matter. I know you guys will wait until the last 3 days to do it anyway. I'm just doing my job here." She clapped twice and gestured the students to form into groups.

Brenna glanced over at Greer to see some students already surrounded her table. She sighed deeply and silently cursed whoever came up with the group history project idea. She was never a fan of working in groups.

After a few thoughts, Brenna decided to just go up to Mrs. Collins and ask if she could work alone, when Greer stopped her.

"Where are you going?" Greer asked.

"Um…I'm just going to ask if I can work alone." Brenna replied.

"Why?"

"I don't have a partner."

"You do. Me."

And Brenna swore if anyone were to ask her about angels, she would say that they are real.

"What about the other girls?" she wondered.

"I told them my friend Brenna was looking quite sad and I needed to go find her." Brenna was blushing at this point, not because she felt shy, but because she didn't want Greer to think of her as a damsel in distress that needed saving.

"You don't have to do this…" Brenna said, unable to look at Greer.

"Brenna," Greer said, "I do this because I want you to be my partner. Everyone else already formed into groups." Brenna glanced around and it was true. They were the only two students left.

"So, what do you say? Will you be my history partner?" Greer asked, and then she quickly added, "Don't say maybe. You have no choice but stuck with me now."

Brenna chuckled, "Yeah. I'll be your partner."

When school ended, Greer suggested Brenna that they should stop by a store to get art supplies for their project. Making sure that no one saw her, Brenna cautiously got into the car and they hit the road. Brenna was enjoying the music when something caught her eyes.

"I know this street." Brenna muttered.

"Yeah. We're almost there."

"No," Brenna was getting a bit nervous. "I used to live around here."

"Where you used to live before moving?"

"Yes."

"Do you want me to stop by?" Greer offered.

Brenna nodded. The last time, she didn't have the courage to do anything; but this time with Greer by her side, she thought maybe she could do it.

And she was wrong.

As soon as they got out of the car, Brenna was already glued to the spot.

"Do you want to go in?" Greer asked with concern.

"I—I don't know," she took a few more seconds, and then said, "Actually, I think we shouldn't be here."

Brenna turned around and tried to open the car door, "I don't think this is a good idea."

However, Greer stopped her by holding onto her hand. "It doesn't hurt to try." She then led Brenna to the direction of the house. Coincidentally, the door opened right at that moment, and a woman around her 30s walked out of the house with a trash bag in her hand.

"Hello!" Greer greeted. The woman looked over and Brenna recognized she was the woman from four years ago. Of course, since they bought the house.

"You two are...?" The woman asked, unsure.

"Hello," Brenna spoke up, her voice shaking, "I'm not sure if you recognize me…but four years ago you bought the house from us..."

The woman raised her eyebrows and recognition plastered across her face, "Oh yes," she said, surprised. "Wow you've grown. My daughters still keep that piece of paper you gave them." She smiled adoringly.

"I hope it's not rude to ask, but I wonder if we could possibly go visit your house for a few minutes?" Greer explained, "Brenna just really missed where she grew up." The woman was quite taken aback by the request, Brenna could tell.

"Sorry," Brenna chimed in, "If it's not a good time then don't worry about it. We'll go." She pulled Greer with her as she walked away, but the woman stopped them.

"It's alright, you two could come in," the woman gave an understanding smile. "My children are taking their after school naps, so my only request is to not wake them up, or they'll be quite cranky."

After expressing their gratitude, Brenna and Greer were welcomed inside the house. Brenna walked her steps slowly, because she couldn't believe she was going to see this place again. The steps outside were filled with colored chalks, indicated that the house has children. It reminded her of the days when she and April used to draw pictures after school. But once Brenna was inside, she was devastated to find out the place looked completely different now. The couple had painted the house black and white, so it looked contemporary compared to the yellow country style they had before. The kitchen looked like it went through some renovations because it seemed smaller.

"We rebuilt the kitchen to make it smaller, so the children have more space to play around," the woman explained, "We also rebuilt some of the rooms upstairs, since next year we will welcome a new member to the family."

"Congratulation." Brenna and Greer said in unison, and that was when Brenna realized this was not her home anymore. It wasn't home ever since her dad passed away.

Back inside the car, Brenna was quiet, and then she let out a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry, Brenna," Greer apologized, "I shouldn't insist you on visiting. Now you just look like a sad kitten."

Greer once again managed to get Brenna smile.

"I knew if I mention kitten you'll smile." Greer said proudly.

"Actually, I think that was what I needed. I need some closure and I got it. It's not my home anymore and I should accept that fact."

"And move on." Greer said.

"And move on." Brenna agreed.

* * *

"This garden is a wonderful place to work on school stuffs," said Brenna, "but don't you think it's too early to work on this project? We have two months." Brenna complained as she cut out the 6th letter of the word HISTORY. As soon as they got home, Greer right away suggested that they should meet at the tree by the garden after dinner to work on the poster.

"It's better if we start early." Greer encouraged.

"Why are you such a good student?" Brenna put down the scissors to exercise her hands. Her fingers were getting numbed from all the letters cutting.

"I guess because my parents always expected me to do good in school, and I don't want to disappoint them."

"Is that the only thing they care about?" Brenna felt a bit rude to ask this question, but she was curious. As far as Brenna could tell, Greer's parents weren't in her life much. Brenna could count the times she saw Greer's parents in one hand, comparing to the times she saw the house caretaker.

"Pretty much." Greer admitted, with sadness in her voice.

"You're afraid that, if you don't do good in school, they would have nothing else to care about you." Brenna said softly. She wasn't asking Greer a question, but rather stated the truth.

Greer hesitated, but then she quietly nodded.

Knowing that they should not talk about this anymore, Brenna switched the subject to lighten up the mood.

"You know what? With all of these supplies, I could make you a 'beware of cat' sign."

Greer let out a small laugh. "My cat said she is offended."

"She _flew_ to my bathroom," Brenna emphasized the word 'flew', "So I'm not that farfetched."

"Good point." Greer said and let out another small laugh.

Around nine, they decided to get back inside and be done for the day. Before going in, Brenna pulled Greer in for a hug. Greer froze for a few seconds, but she quickly put her arms around Brenna in return. Both girls just held onto each other for a while, without saying any word.

Then finally, Brenna whispered against Greer's hair, "Thank you for today, Greer. I really appreciated it."

Greer took a deep breath, as if she was taking in the whole moment, then replied, "Anytime, Brenna. Anytime."

Lying on her bed that night, Brenna thought about how she saw a side of Greer that she had never seen before. Instead of the popular, outgoing girl that everyone saw at school; Brenna saw a lonely, wounded girl that desperately wanted to be loved by her parents. She realized that there were two kinds of people in the world: Those who show their problems on their face, and those who don't. Brenna came to a conclusion that she and Greer were the perfect examples of it.

.

* * *

A/N: I hope everyone had a great Labor Day! and thank you for all the feedbacks :)


	5. Chapter 5

It was another dinner night at the Carver's. Sara had prepared some homemade pumpkin spice lattes and called Greer over for the taste test. The smell of pumpkin spice that had spread across the house reminded Brenna of the upcoming event in two days: Halloween.

The Carver took Halloween seriously. Every year, they dressed up and went out for trick-or-treating. It was something the family liked to do together, even if their mom wouldn't let them eat all the candies.

Greer took a sip of the latte.

"Wow, this is better than all the brand names out there!" She exclaimed.

Brenna noticed the foam that was left on Greer's upper lip.

"Awww Greer, you are always so kind with your words." Sara said. Greer smiled and took another sip.

"Um, Greer?" Brenna called. Greer put down her mug and looked up at Brenna.

"You have some...foam left on your upper lip." She tried to explain.

"Oh," Greer smiled, but then she went full on giggling, "Oh God, you just saw the most cliché thing, didn't you?"

"I did wonder if it was intentional or not," Brenna laughed, "Here, let me help you." She put down her mug and grabbed the nearby tissue, and before Greer could say anything, Brenna already had one of her hands cupping Greer's face, while the other dabbing the tissue on Greer's lips.

"Oh...a pair of lovebirds." Beth called out.

Startled, Brenna jolted away from Greer.

"Hey, Beth. You're here." She said hoarsely. Beth gave her a knowing look. Brenna glanced over at Greer and caught Greer licking her lips. She quickly turned back to Beth just to realize Beth was still watching her. Her face turned red with embarrassment.

"Mom made pumpkin spice latte and Greer was drinking and—"

"I know," Beth cut her words, "She called me. I'll go get me some now." Beth patted Brenna shoulder as she walked past them and into the kitchen.

Greer laughed at Brenna's silliness, but Brenna thought it wasn't funny. Even for the short few seconds that she had her whole focus on Greer's lips, it was enough for a thought to slip by, and she felt like she would go with her mind if Beth didn't come in at the right time.

Sara made Greer bringing the lattes home for her parents, even though Greer already explained that her parents weren't home. That day, Brenna asked to go to her room instead of walking Greer back to her house. She didn't think she could be alone with Greer after that little thought.

But sleep never came. Tossing around on her bed, Brenna took time to think back to the latte incident. She had thought about kissing Greer right there. Could it mean that she has feeling for Greer? Could Beth tell from just by looking? Was it that obvious?

Brenna decided to text Greer, just because she didn't think sleep would come if she kept thinking about her.

_Are you asleep?_ Brenna sent the text.

Not after ten seconds, she received a reply.

**Greer Danville**: Not yet.

**Brenna**: Can we talk?

**Greer Danville**: Sure.

**Brenna**: Meet you at the balcony.

October nights were chilly, but Brenna didn't think so when she saw Greer walked out to the balcony in her t-shirt and shorts. It was getting hot. At least her face was.

"Um...Aren't you cold?" Brenna asked.

"We have heater," Greer said like it was obvious, "and I hate sleeping in pants."

"I can't sleep." Brenna explained.

"Same here." Greer agreed.

The reason Brenna wanted to have a talk at this time was because she wanted to see Greer, so she needed to think of a topic quick. Then she remembered about Halloween.

"What are you going to dress up for Halloween?"

"I don't have any plan actually. I haven't been out trick-or-treating since like 6." Greer said.

Before Brenna could say a word, Greer went ahead and explained herself.

"My grandma was the only one that took me out for Halloween. My parents said we already had candies at home. They didn't know that the fun wasn't just with the candies."

"Let's go this year then. You can go with us. We go every year." Brenna proposed.

Greer thought for a while.

"That would be great."

Satisfied, Brenna continued, "You have to dress up."

"Then I'll dress up as Harry Potter." Greer beamed.

"You and half of the population. God, you're so unoriginal." Brenna teased.

"Dressing up as Harry Potter will never get old!" Greer declared happily. Brenna was smiling to herself, thinking of this Halloween she would get to spend time with Greer.

* * *

Halloween arrived before they knew it.

Brenna came over to Greer's house to help her get ready. Since Brenna had never been to Greer's house before, she was fascinated at how similar both houses were.

"It's so weird. It is pretty much just like our place but bigger and reverse."

Greer agreed. "Yea, because my parents build that house for me. They thought if I ever needed privacy I could just live there, but you already know the irony part of that story."

"Did you find anything for your costume?" Brenna quickly changed the topic.

"I found a red sweater, so I printed out the H for Harry and pinned it on." Greer showed Brenna her work once they had entered her room. "You know, the sweater Mrs. Weasley gave him; and I found a stick for the wand."

"You're such a nerd." Brenna said.

Greer smiled at her and went into the bathroom to change. Five minutes later she came out fully dressed in her last minutes Harry Potter costume.

"Good enough?" Greer asked.

"Not yet. You need the scar," Brenna observed, "Give me something to draw on."

Greer then found a lip liner in her makeup bag and handed it to Brenna.

"Stay still," Brenna said.

Brenna gently brushed Greer's hair off the side of her face, to reveal the part of her forehead where Brenna intended to draw. Since Greer was a bit taller than Brenna, Brenna had to slightly look up and Greer had to slightly look down. With her hand still holding onto Greer's hair to keep it off her face, Brenna began to draw. For some reasons, the room went very still and the only sound she could hear was the fast beating of her own heart. Brenna was able to draw the first line. She could feel Greer's breath on her now, since they were standing rather close. Another line had done. The last line was hard. She tried to focus on drawing a straight line; but it was impossible because her heart might just about to explode. Greer's lips look so soft and tempting, and Brenna thought if she didn't get to release all of these tension inside of her, she might just go crazy. Brenna spent the next few seconds contemplating her next move, putting herself in the same situation as two days ago. She was debating between going with her gut feeling, or not doing anything because Greer might not like it. However, her mind battle was interrupted by a meow sound. Brenna wasn't sure when did Greer's cat get into the room, but it was now on the bed staring at them.

Though Brenna was sure of one thing: The cat must hated her.

"Okay, one last line." Brenna said softly. She noticed Greer let out a big breath after that.

* * *

They were glad that Halloween was on a Friday, because no one wanted to wake up early on the next day for school. Greer was impressed that every Carver dressed up for Halloween. April was Little Red Riding Hood, Brenna was the Wolf, and their grandma was just grandma. As for their mom, Sara, she opted for a librarian. They started late because Beth was working until nine, but the neighborhood was still full with people going around by that time of the night. When Beth showed up, Greer was excited because she could tell who Beth was for Halloween right at first glance.

"Are you Hermione Granger?" Greer asked.

"Oh yes! And you're Harry Potter!" Beth exclaimed, "Great mind think alike!"

Greer grinned and turned to Brenna, who was rolling her eyes from the side.

"I know what you're going say, Greer."

"Yes. Beth and I, and half of the population." She winked.

This Halloween was the first time in years that Greer was able to enjoy. It didn't matter that she wasn't with her family. It didn't matter that some of the houses closed the door on them ("_Kids only_." One woman had said while sucking on a lollipop.). Greer was happy because she was here with Brenna, a girl who suddenly dashed into her life just a month ago without any warning. Greer noticed the changes in Brenna's attitude lately, and it almost felt like Brenna also had feeling for her, too. But it was hard to tell because Greer didn't know if Brenna was into girls or not. It was always hard.

Greer never wanted to fall for a straight girl. She had heard many sad and disappointed stories about that. She had heard stories about best friends, unrequited love, and sad endings. At the age of 17, that would be the last thing she wanted to experience; but it seemed like the more she spent time with Brenna, the more she was falling. She wondered if there was any story with happy ending out there? Was it better just to play safe?

But looking into Brenna's eyes and that play safe thought immediately vanished. Even in the darkest of nights, her eyes still lit up like the stars and they made her knees went weak. Greer secretly laughed at how fitting it was that Brenna's costume was the wolf, because just like Little Red Riding Hood, Greer couldn't possibly resist the temptation.

And she was in big trouble.

First, it was because her heart ached for Brenna.

Second, it was because her parents had just called and they needed her to be home right away.

"I need to get back home right now." Greer nervously informed Brenna. She didn't know that they were going to be home.

"Is anything wrong?" Brenna asked, concerned.

"My parents are home. I didn't tell them about tonight."

"Should I have a word with your parents, Greer? If they know you're under adult supervision, I think they will understand." Sara offered after she overheard them.

"That's okay, Mrs. Carver...I can handle them." Greer politely declined, just because she knew her parents wouldn't settle for any explanation.

Brenna followed her anyway, because she said, "I got you into this, I should be there to help you out."

Greer prayed her parents wouldn't overreact.

* * *

The white Cadillac outside the house proved that her parents were indeed home. Brenna tried to hold her hand but she pulled away. _Not now_, Greer thought, not when they were about to meet her parents.

The door opened and her parents walked out with an unreadable expression on their faces. Greer lowered her head, unable to look at them straight in the eyes.

"Greer," they said her name, "Where were you?"

"She was o—" Brenna spoke up but Greer nudged at her hand to stop her.

"I was out trick-or-treating." Greer said carefully.

"And who is this young lady?" Her mom asked, glancing at Brenna.

"Her family rent the house next door." Greer answered.

"Greer, we're very disappointed at you. Didn't you know the rules already?" Her mom scolded, "Friday nights are homework nights. Even if you don't have any homework to do, this is past your curfew...and not even a phone call!"

"When is your curfew?" Brenna whispered.

"Ten." Greer whispered back.

"You are almost 18, Greer. You can't keep us worried all the time. Be responsible." Her dad said.

"Said the two people who were never here." Brenna muttered.

"Excuse me, young lady?" Her mom gasped, "This is _our_ family's business. I am disciplining my daughter. I don't think you have a right to be here."

Letting out a deep sigh, Greer said, "Brenna. I think you should go home."

Now she didn't even have the courage to look at Brenna.

"What, Greer, they're being unreasonable! You didn't do anything wrong." Brenna fumed.

"Please, Brenna. Please! Just go home." She felt like crying.

"Fine," Brenna said quietly, "If you don't need me, I'll go then."

So Brenna spun around and walked back to her home. Greer regretted it instantly. They were making good progress and now she just screwed everything up.

"Go inside, Greer." Her mom ordered.

As Greer was walking to her room, she wondered if she had already blew up her chance with Brenna, even before she could try.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**: I personally enjoyed writing this chapter. You'll know why as you read ;) Thank you for all the feedbacks, as always!

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* * *

On Monday morning, Brenna walked to school.

They hadn't been talking since Friday night. Brenna wasn't mad at Greer or anything, though she was positive that Greer was mad at her. She admitted that she was rude that night, and she felt terrible about it. She wanted to apologize, but at the same time she felt like it was best to wait it out.

So she decided to walk to school that morning.

And obviously it was a stupid idea because she had to wake up earlier than usual, and braved the cold weather.

Brenna was the first to get to History, but surprisingly, ten minutes later Greer was the second one to enter. Greer had her hair in a ponytail and Brenna always thought that it looked good on her.

"Brenna, where were you this morning?" Greer asked as she walked toward Brenna's table.

"Hey..." Brenna said, trying to read Greer's expression, "I...um, I walked to school."

Greer took a seat next to her.

"I thought you're mad at me." Brenna continued.

"Brenna, I'm not mad at you," Greer sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for the other night. I know you just wanted to stand up for me, and that was totally cool of you. I'm sorry for what I said."

"I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean to be so noisy," she looked at Greer with apologetic eyes. "Are you okay with your parents now?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." Greer confirmed.

"So you're still my history partner?" Said Brenna.

"Still your history partner." Said Greer.

* * *

April brought back a dog.

Not any dog, but a golden retriever.

April had said that Beth found the dog wandering around the backdoor of the coffee shop. Apparently, the dog's owner moved away and left it behind. Beth brought the dog back to her apartment but she found out they have a no pets policy, so she called April for help.

So now there was a big, fluffy, furry dog occupying their whole sofa.

April said that they should keep the dog. Their mom hesitated, but she finally agreed. Brenna knew the reason why her mom didn't want to keep the dog at first. The dog reminded her mom of her dad. Brenna remembered the story he always told them, about a little boy and his best furry friend named Sam.

They decided to call the dog Sammie.

Sammie was three years old, he liked to eat peanut butter, and he loved the garden between the houses. He would spend hours out in the garden and dug things up. Brenna tried to steer him away from the garden because she didn't want him to get into trouble, but he would always find a way.

"Your dog looks like he's going to dig up some gold." Greer said as they watched him. They were worried that he would mess with the lights, but so far he was only interested in digging.

"Seriously. Any chance your parents hid their gold underground?" Brenna joked.

"It's a possibility." Greer laughed.

One day in the last week of November, Sammie found the mud puddle. Brenna was in her bathtub when Greer called.

"Brenna! Sammie is covered in mud!" She said.

"Wait, what?" Brenna stood up and grabbed her towel.

"Your grandma came over and asked if I could take him on a walk, and I did but he found a mud puddle," Greer explained. "I've never seen a happier dog."

"Where are you now?" Brenna put the phone on speaker as she put on her clothes.

"At the playground. I didn't notice it rained last night."

"I'll be there in five."

Later, Brenna spotted Greer and a dirty dog near the swing sets at the playground.

"Oh, thank goodness, Brenna. I couldn't get him to leave." Greer said as soon as she saw Brenna.

"Sammie!" Brenna patted his head, "You're creating trouble for Greer?"

He wagged his tail and barked as if saying, "Yes!"

Brenna looked at Greer, who was now also covered in mud, and she couldn't help but laughed. "You two looked like you two just got back from a battle."

"Well, it was a battle between us. He wouldn't leave and splashed mud all over me!" She complained, and then in a blink of an eye, she scoop up a handful of mud and threw at Brenna.

"Greer! I just took a bath!" Brenna yelled.

"You can always take another bath." Greer replied. Brenna gasped in frustration, "You are so bad!" she shouted.

"You haven't seen the bad side of me yet." Greer grinned, and Brenna thought, just a thought, that she wouldn't mind seeing the bad side of Greer.

They were able to bring Sammie home by taking turn to carry him. Once they could no longer see the park, they set him down and he listened; but once they arrived home, they had to carry him upstairs to the bathroom so that he wouldn't messed the house up. They put him in the bathtub. When Greer grabbed the hand held showerhead and turned on the water, he immediately started whining.

"He loves mud bath, but hates clean water bath, go figure." Brenna complained.

"I think that's with all dogs." Greer crouched down to Sammie's level and began to spray water on him.

As a result, Sammie jumped out of the bathtub and knocked Greer down on the floor. The showerhead slipped out of her hand and sprayed water all over the bathroom. "Sammie!" Greer yelled, "You made me dirty and wet!"

And Brenna couldn't help but noticed the sheer white shirt Greer was wearing and how it hugged her body now that she was soaked. It made Brenna blush. Greer grabbed Sammie and tried to bring him back into the bathtub.

"Brenna, help me." Greer said.

So Brenna snapped out of her thought and tried to help Greer. But as soon as Sammie was in the bathtub, he jumped out again and that landed Greer the second time on the floor. Greer laughed and held onto Sammie and gave him kisses and Brenna thought, _Oh my God please stop!_

She said to Sammie, "That's not a good boy," but Greer told her that Sammie was just being dog.

Brenna became aware of how beautiful Greer looked with her disheveled hair and clothes. Greer was always beautiful, in an enchanting way to her; but the untidy look definitely added to the charm.

Brenna lend out a hand to help Greer get up. Greer took her hand and got back on her feet, but Brenna never let go of Greer's hand. It was an impulse action, but she felt like if she didn't hold onto it she'd never get another opportunity.

The steam from the running water was heating up the room. There were heavy breathing and mind battle.

Brenna was so used to these mind battles it was like saying hi to an old friend. But this time she told her friend, _yes_.

This time Brenna went for it.

Slowly and carefully.

Her lips grazed Greer's for a second and then she closed the distance. Sammie took the chance to run out.

And then it was just the two of them.

With no distance in between.

Greer was soft and warm and forbidden.

It was terrifying and wrong but it felt so right. Brenna could tell that much with the simple touch. She was sure time froze right at that moment, because nothing was moving.

First kiss and their innocence.

But then Greer broke the kiss Brenna was savoring. She felt an instant lost. She was determined.

So as soon as Greer said her name, Brenna kissed her for the second time. Sealed Greer's lips with her own. Stole the chances of unspoken words.

However, this time she kissed her hard, because this kiss was for all the sleepless nights, for all the unspeakable thoughts, and for all the unbearable tension.

This kiss was for Greer.

And she showed Greer how much she wanted to do this. Her hands tangled in Greer's hair as she pushed Greer against the wall for balance. Her tongue entered and her heart did a bungee jump and she thought she would die right there.

It was too much but she wanted more and more.

Greer tasted sweet and raw and just everything that she could imagine.

Greer had her hands all over Brenna's body now and every touch left her in shivers. Brenna slipped a hand under Greer's shirt and Greer sucked in a sharp intake of breath.

It was magical and Brenna never wanted this to end, despite the gasping for breath after every few seconds and the bath water still running in the background.

Because she wanted to remember this moment for a long, long time.

But life wasn't a fairy tale, and when you kissed someone in the middle of the day, with your family member still at home, you'd most likely be interrupted.

With their lips still glued to each other, Brenna first heard grandma said, "You girls, the dog is running all over the house now." Then she heard the footsteps outside, and then before she could react, "I thought you girls are bathing him, what happ…ened." Her grandma was in front of the bathroom. The girls broke apart as quick as a flash. It sounded hilarious when someone was caught on TV, but it was not hilarious in real life. It was definitely awkward.

"Oh," her grandma said, "I'll take care of him." She spun around and went back downstairs.

_Oh my God_! Brenna screamed silently. Her grandma had just walked in on them.

Brenna turned around to face Greer. Her cheeks flustered a bright red. Taking it all in, Greer whispered, "...You kissed me."

The color on her cheeks deepened. "I...I just want to try," Brenna replied.

"You know I like girls?" Greer asked. Her voice was a bit louder.

"Sorry, Ford told me." Brenna admitted.

"It's okay," Greer took a step closer, "I'm not ashamed of who I am."

"Do your parents know?" Brenna had a million of questions for Greer.

"They know I'm a lesbian, and they support me," Greer answered, and then she took the courage to ask Brenna, "How about you, Brenna? Do you like girls?"

"I'm not into labels." She said firmly.

"But, do you like that kiss?"

"Yeah." Brenna said. She didn't think her face could get redder.

"Do you think we could have a chance, Brenna?" Greer asked carefully.

Brenna never actually thought of what she was going to do if this question ever occurred.

"I don't know...Maybe."

"You can't just kiss someone, and then tell that person maybe you like them."

"Greer, this is all new to me," Brenna desperately trying to explain, "I need some time to think about it."

Greer nodded. "Okay," she said.

"Okay?"

"I don't want to rush anything either," Greer said. "Follow your heart, Brenna." She leaned in, gave Brenna a peck on the cheek, and walked out of the bathroom.

And Brenna already wanted to tell Greer '_Yes._'

* * *

When she came downstairs, Greer was nowhere in sight. Brenna guessed that Greer probably went back home. She saw her grandma reading at the sofa, next to the sleeping Sammie. Brenna was about to turn away and run upstairs when her grandma asked, "Do you want to talk?"

"Not really, gramps." She said awkwardly.

"But I think we should talk," grandma said. "Come here," she patted the empty spot next to her, gesturing Brenna to take a seat.

Brenna had no choice but to comply.

"So, anything you want to tell me?" said her grandma.

"Gramps this is awkward." She complained.

Her grandma ignored. "Just see me as one of your cool friends. Now tell me what happened? You like the girl?"

Brenna eventually relaxed. "I don't know. I mean, yes, I like her, but I'm conflicted."

Grandma flipped to the next page of her book. "You're young, my dear. What's there to be conflicted about?"

"I want to be with her," Brenna admitted, "but I'm so scare of what other people think."

Putting down the book, her grandma looked at her. "You shouldn't worry about what other people think, love. When I was young and in love with your grandpa, people talked about how he was a servant boy and uneducated, but I didn't care. What important was he loved me. I'm not the best when it comes to advice, but I know that you should not be scared to love."

"You don't think it's weird? Me being with her? As girlfriends?" Brenna asked shyly.

"Well, a little bit at first," she said, "but I've read enough lesbian books to know that love is love." She winked, and then continued, "You know, if you want to borrow the books, just ask me. I think you should read them to gain some experience."

"Grandma!" Brenna blushed.

Her grandma laughed. She pulled Brenna in for a hug, and told her one last advice. "Call the girl."

It was another sleepless night. Brenna replayed the conversation she had with her grandma earlier over and over. _You should not be scared to love_. _Call the girl_.

And Brenna thought that her grandma was right. She shouldn't be afraid to love. Yes, there would be people that like to make snide remarks and comments; but at the end of the day, they would go home and focus on their own lives. If Brenna cared about that and let her own happiness slipped by, that wouldn't be a great way of living.

Brenna closed her eyes and let the images of their first kiss flood back. Their shortness of breath, Greer's lips, their passion, Greer's hands…Brenna smiled as she remembered the taste of Greer on her lips.

So she picked up the phone and followed her heart.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews! I always go back and read them, so if you have time please let me know what you think! :) And I'm sorry for the late update since all of you know school started and I'm back to college so there are a bit of works. But to make up to you guys I'll upload another chapter tomorrow. Enjoy!

* * *

It had been eight hours and five minutes since their first kiss.

It wasn't like Greer was counting or anything, but because every time her phone made a sound, she had to check the clock. She had been lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling for so long that she could tell how many stars there were on the ceiling. She was totally terrified of what Brenna would tell her. What if Brenna told her she just wanted to be friends? Thinking back about their kiss, Greer believed there was no way they could go back being just friends after that. That kiss woke her up and she put her mind and soul into it. It scared her because she had never felt this way before. There were a few dates and kisses with other girls, but none of them was like Brenna.

She didn't think Brenna would call her that night, but her phone finally rang when she was dozing off to sleep.

Panicked, she answered the phone.

"Hey," Greer whispered. Her heart was pounding hard.

"Hey," Brenna said, "Are you asleep?"

"No. I was...um I was reading." Greer didn't want Brenna to know that she had been waiting for this call.

"So I've been thinking," Brenna said softly, "I've been thinking for the whole night, and um, you're right. I can't just kiss you and say I don't like you, because, um I do like you and I—I think we could try."

"What do you mean?" Greer knew what Brenna meant, but she was a nervous wreck.

"I mean I would like to kiss you again." Brenna's voice was shy but with a little of determination.

"Just kiss me?" Greer realized how stupid that sounded.

"And go on dates with you." Brenna confessed.

"Go on dates with me..." Greer repeated.

"So what do you say?" Brenna asked.

Greer let out a few giggles.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm just really happy." She was on cloud nine to be exact. Brenna didn't want to be just friends after all, and Greer couldn't stop smiling.

"Yeah? Me too, now that I finally admitted to myself that I'm quite attracted to you."

"I like you too, Brenna."

"How about we go somewhere tomorrow? Around four in the evening?"

"That sounds great. I'll see you."

"Okay. See you tomorrow."

After Brenna hung up, Greer wasn't able to sleep for another hour because her heart wouldn't stop singing.

* * *

Brenna got up around eight to get ready for their date.

It was a Saturday and Brenna would never get up that early on a Saturday. Except for that day. Even though they wouldn't meet until four, but Brenna felt like there were so many things that she needed to prepare.

Took Sammie for a walk: Checked

Took a shower: Checked.

Shaved her legs: Checked.

Accidentally cut one of her legs while shaving: Check

Picked out an outfit: Checked.

Realized it was November and probably would freeze to death in shorts so she had to change for another one: Checked.

Borrowed some books from grandma (for later use): Checked.

Received knowing glances from grandma: Checked.

Ran back to her room with said books: Checked.

It was ridiculous, Brenna thought, to be so freaked out because Greer wasn't any stranger. But although this was just a date, somehow it felt official for Brenna.

After she finally decided on wearing an oversized beige cardigan over a striped long sleeve with a black pair of jeans, she looked at the clock and it said three fifteen. Brenna hurriedly fixed her makeup, grabbed her shoulder bag, and headed downstairs.

"You look lovely, dear. Going on a date?" Her grandma asked as soon as she saw Brenna walking down the stairs.

Her mom, who was reading the newspaper in the living room, looked up in surprise. "What? Honey, you're going on a date?"

Brenna was getting uncomfortable. She answered reluctantly, "Yeah, mom."

"Brenna, why didn't you tell me!" Her mom gasped, "Who is the guy? Do I know him? I mean I probably don't know him since you never brought any friend home, not that I allowed you to bring boys home, but who is he?" She asked excitedly.

Brenna glanced at her grandma for some signal but her grandma just shrugged. It was her choice now. After a few thoughts, Brenna decided just to go along with her mom. She didn't want to have any talk with her mom yet.

"Just a boy from school." She lied.

"April, Brenna is going on her first date!" Her mom called out for her sister.

"WHAT!" April yelled from her room, and a few seconds later she was running down the stairs.

Brenna sighed.

"You're going on a date?" April asked.

"Yes."

"As your sister I am hurt that you didn't tell me."

"It's no big deal, April."

"It is a big deal. I didn't even have the chance to show you the birthing documentary so you can stay away from getting pregnant." April expressed. Brenna wished she had the power to disappear from them right at that moment.

"Oh God. Great. Now I am suddenly nervous." Her mom said.

"Guys! We're just going out and talk. We're not going to do anything, and definitely won't be getting pregnant."

Her mom and sister wouldn't let that topic went through. Brenna spent another five minutes zoning out while her mom gave her a lecture on being responsible. April couldn't stop laughing from the side because she thought it was hilarious. By the time her mom got to the effects of teenage pregnancy, the doorbell rang.

"Oh is that your date? I'll get the door." Her mom said, half amused and half ready to give 'the guy' some words. Brenna silently cursed herself for not texting Greer about ringing the doorbell. She had no choice followed her mom to the door, hoping that Greer would play along.

Her mom opened the door to Greer standing outside all dressed up in a long yellow coat and black leggings.

"Hello Greer. You look nice." Sara greeted.

"Good evening, Mrs. Carver." Greer politely said.

"You're looking for Brenna? She didn't tell you she's going out?"

"Actually we're going out together." Greer said and smiled at Brenna who was standing behind Sara.

"Oh, I didn't know you guys are doing double dates! I feel less worried now. At least with you she won't be trying to get pregnant. You're definitely the more responsible one." Sara said. Brenna was coughing up a storm behind her mom.

"You okay, honey?"

"I'm okay mom." She swallowed then looked at Greer, "Let's go." Greer finally got the hint and nodded. Brenna hugged her mom and walked out the door. Greer also said her goodbye and followed Brenna.

"Have fun you two! Look out for each other!" Mom yelled.

They quickly got into Greer's car, and as soon as the doors closed, Greer started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Brenna asked.

"That whole conversation with your mom."

"April brought that whole pregnant topic up." She rolled her eyes.

"That would be a funny story to tell one day. My date's mom asked me to not get my date pregnant."

"Shut up!" Brenna laughed.

After the laughter subsided, Greer had her eyes on Brenna for a few seconds before she said, "Hey,"

"Hey back."

"You look nice."

"You, too."

Brenna suddenly felt shy again. She wondered if everyone felt this way on their first date.

"Well," Greer cleared her voice, her face flustered red. "Welcome to our first date."

Seeing Greer blushing, Brenna gave her a smile. She was not the only one that was nervous.

"I couldn't be more excited." She said.

* * *

Greer took Brenna to a small and independent coffee house near the Boston Public Garden. They purposely avoided Beth's work place, which was just a few blocks away, for privacy. The coffee house was quiet and empty enough to sit and talk. After looking at the menu, Greer ordered an ice blended vanilla mocha coffee while Brenna went for the salted caramel mocha latte. Greer wouldn't let Brenna pay, but Brenna was persistent so in the end they split the bill. Their drinks were ready seven minutes later, and they found a small table by the window to sit. Talking and people watching sounded like a good plan for their first date.

"How can you drink an ice blended coffee on such a cold day?" Brenna asked. She was starting to miss the weather in California. Boston was just too cold these days, and she couldn't even imagine December when the temperatures were usually in the 40 ranges.

"I like drinking cold drinks, and maybe because it's like eating ice cream."

"Do you know what the first taste of hot coffee tastes like?" Brenna took a sip, and then continued, "heaven."

"Noted. Brenna Carver likes hot coffee." Greer teased.

Brenna cleared her throat and looked straight at Greer. "I'm going to ask you some serious questions, Greer Danville," she put down her cup, "and you need to answer me honestly."

Greer raised her eyebrows, clearly entertained at Brenna's sudden action. "Go ahead, miss Carver."

Satisfied, Brenna asked her first question. "Very important, when is your birthday?"

"February 15th."

"A day after Valentine. Very convenient." Brenna took note with her mind.

"Okay, second question. What was your first impression of me?"

"You were...hm.I like your after-the-shower look." Greer laughed, and it made Brenna chuckle as well. "That night was the worse," Brenna said, "I was really grumpy and I just wanted a hot bath but your cat ruined everything."

"I could tell you wasn't happy that day," Greer said, "but you intrigued me."

"Good enough." Brenna took another sip of her latte, and then said, "Last question. Was our kiss, your first?"

Greer was a bit unsure of how to answer this question, but she wanted to be honest. "No, it wasn't. I went out with a few girls before, but we never really clicked. When we kissed, Brenna, I just felt an instant connection. You are the first person ever to make me feel this way." Greer reached her left hand out hold onto Brenna's. Brenna nodded in acknowledgement because she had a few similar experiences. She never went on dates with anyone before, but she had had crushes and kisses. All of her crushes were boys, but none of them gave her this butterflies in the stomach feeling whenever they looked at her like Greer did.

From the talk, Brenna learned a few more things about Greer. Greer used to have two cats, but one ran away (Greer would like to believe that the cat found another home). She loved the aquarium, which was obvious, since she had quite a few fish drawing hanging in her room. She loved the beach. She once built a Barbie household with two moms and ten kids. Brenna thought that part was interesting. Greer explained she was at the age where she really hated being an only child, so her dolls family usually had a lot of kids.

"Why two moms?" Brenna asked curiously.

"Not that it indicated that I'm gay or anything, it was just because I didn't have any Ken doll, so I went with two moms. It came naturally." Greer grinned. _God, she's so adorable_, Brenne thought.

They finished their coffee and decided to get back to their car and head to somewhere else. Brenna suggested the drive-in movie theater, because it wasn't as cliché as the regular movie date.

Greer put the address to her car's system and they were on their way. When they arrived, the drive-in movie theater was surprisingly empty. There were only about five or six cars for the viewing of Home Alone. Greer parked behind all the cars because Brenna wanted privacy.

"It's so far behind Brenna, I think it's better if we move up a little." Greer explained.

"I think this is perfect." It was dark outside and there were no lights around except the movie screen. Brenna checked around their surrounding, before she said, "Because I've been waiting to do this."

Brenna pulled Greer and her lips toward her. She melt as soon as their lips met. Just exactly how she remembered. Greer put her arms around Brenna and pulled her closer. Hating the space between them, Brenna slid over to the driver side and sat on Greer's laps. That caused Greer to pull away, breathless.

"W—we should focus on the movie." She said while panting. Brenna shook her head to disagree. "I don't care. I've seen movie dozen of time." Then she captured Greer's mouth with her own again.

It was a bit embarrassing, because Brenna felt like a horny teenager. But Greer had this power on her where Brenna just wanted to touch her and kiss her all day. Her hands cupped Greer's face and her tongue slipped inside. That familiar feeling flood back and it felt amazing. Brenna traced her hands down Greer's body and felt Greer biting into her lower lip. It was when Brenna broke apart to gasp for air.

"Are we going too fast?" Brenna asked. Her lips wet from the kisses.

"How fast is too fast?" Greer asked back, still breathing hard.

"You're driving me crazy." Brenna stated the obvious.

"You have no idea."

They came to an agreement that they should enjoy the rest of the movie; but instead of sitting in their own seat, they stayed on the driver side and cuddled for the rest of the night. Brenna enjoyed the closeness because she could smell Greer's perfume whenever her nose grazed Greer's neck. Greer smelled like flowers, the slightly sweet and earthy ones, and they have power over every single one of her nerve. She traced her fingertips over Greer's palm and linked their hands together.

"Brenna?" Greer said after awhile, "You never told me your birthday."

"It's January 5th." Brenna said.

"It's coming soon." Greer said.

"Why? You have a surprise for me?" Brenna asked jokingly.

Greer laughed and told her that she would have to wait and see. Brenna thought to herself that their first date went beyond what she had in mind and expected. She sometimes stole glances at Greer and had had her breath taken away more times than she could count. The only source of light, which was the movie screen, illuminated Greer's face in the darkness and it looked like she was surrounded by an aura of mystery.

For the rest of the movie, Brenna felt perfectly content and peaceful next to the girl that turned her world upside down, and she wouldn't change a thing.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N**: Here is the next chapter, as promised!

* * *

School on Monday didn't go like how they planned out.

They kept the dating news between themselves. There were no same sex couple at school, and Brenna wasn't going to risk it. Greer didn't mind, since this wasn't anything that bothered her.

Brenna promised Greer to meet her at lunch, so by the time lunch came, she found a way to ditch Ford and went looking for Greer at the football stadium. They decided to meet there because the students usually ate lunch in the cafeteria for the heat, so it was rather empty outside.

Brenna spotted Greer reading her textbook on the bleacher. She always amazed Brenna at how serious she was with her education, and it made Brenna somewhat ashamed of herself. Brenna picked up her speed, and somehow Greer noticed Brenna was approaching because she looked up and waved. Greer closed her textbook and put it away as Brenna coming up the bleacher.

"I can't believe you spent lunch time to study," said Brenna.

"Because I have nothing to do while waiting for you." Greer smiled at her. Brenna felt bad that Greer had to wait because she was finding a way to ditch Ford.

"Did you bring the breads?" Brenna asked.

Greer picked up her backpack and brought out two neatly packed containers. "Yep. Breads and peanut butter."

"And homemade strawberry jam from my mom." Brenna excitedly took out a can from her bag. Brenna believed her mom made the best jam in the world.

"Sounds good." Greer said with the same excitement.

With the empty surrounding and their lunch spread out in front of them, it was just like another date. The weather was definitely cold, but Greer kept her warm because she brought blankets. Touched at how thoughtful she was, Brenna leaned in to give Greer a kiss, and it was when she heard a familiar voice yelling from behind; a too familiar voice. It was when school didn't go like how they planned.

"When did she turn you into a lesbian?" The girl said.

There was a shocked silence. Greer closed her eyes as if she didn't want to see what was in front of her; and when Brenna turned around to look behind her, she realized the reason. Ford and two of her friends were walking toward them and onto the bleacher.

Brenna rose to her feet, her face white with fear. "Ford," she muttered, "W—what are you doing here?"

"I thought you were a bit weird earlier, because you told me you need to go to the library to study. I mean Brenna Carver study at lunch time?" Ford snickered, and she continued, "So Christine, Charlotte, and I followed you. You ditched us to go here and kiss a lesbian. Not just any lesbian, but Greer Danville!"

"I can explain this..." Brenna pleaded. She knew this moment would come someday, but she didn't expect it to be this soon.

"What, you ditched me! Why didn't you tell me you were hanging out with her? I thought we all agreed that she's not one of us!" Ford yelled. Christine and Charlotte nodded in agreement.

"She is not what you make her out to be!" Brenna was getting frustrated.

"She is lame and fake. Plus now she turned you gay!"

Greer seemed to be upset by Ford's words, because she spoke up behind Brenna. "I did not turn anyone gay. That's not how it works."

"Bitch!" Ford walked down a row and came closer to Greer while her two friends stayed. She angrily said, "My friend was fine before, but now she is all over you. Tell me you didn't turn her gay!" Ford grabbed Greer's shoulders and pushed her. Greer lost her balance and her right foot tripped over the textbooks, which caused her to fall down the bleacher.

"Greer!" Brenna gasped. There were also screams from the two friends. Brenna ran down the bleacher to Greer who was obviously in pain. Ford followed down and without waiting, said her next snide remark.

"Hey, I didn't even push you that hard. Don't pretend."

"What the fuck, Ford? Not even an apology?" Brenna was furious. Ford was getting out of line.

Greer, being the sweet girl that she was didn't want to bring more tension to them, so she bit her lip and told Brenna that she was fine. However, when Greer tried to get up, she instantly fell back to the ground because she couldn't add strength to her right foot.

Brenna pushed down Greer's sock and touched Greer's ankle to see a reaction, and surely, Greer yelped in pain. "You probably sprained your ankle." Brenna said to Greer.

"Fucking hell, the bleacher is not even that high." Ford rolled her eyes.

"Oh, _shut up_, Ford! You pushed her and she fell down quite a few rows. Was that necessary?" Brenna confronted.

"Hey, are we even friends anymore? You're yelling at me now?" Ford lightly shoved Brenna. Christine and Charlotte took off at the scene. Brenna couldn't take it anymore, so she fought back and pushed Ford to the ground. Ford quickly get up and jumped at Brenna. No one was throwing out punches but there were hair grabbing and screaming. Greer was begging for them to stop on the ground but her voice was drowned out. Luckily, before thing got more serious, a teacher came by and broke them up. Apparently Christine and Charlotte saw what was coming and called the teacher.

"You three, to the principal office, now!" The teacher ordered.

* * *

That day they received detention for fighting. Brenna explained to the headmistress that Greer was not involved, but she wouldn't listen. The headmistress ordered them to serve detention on Tuesday after school. They also found out, with much horror, that their parents were going to be informed of this incident. Afterward, the school nurse tended to Greer's foot and confirmed that she had a sprained ankle.

"I'm so sorry, Greer. Your parents are going to kill you over this." Brenna sincerely apologized.

Greer smiled sadly at Brenna, "It's okay. How about you? What would your mom say?"

"She is probably going to kill me, too." Brenna sighed. She had served detention for using phone in class and missing homework, but she was never in trouble for fighting before. She couldn't even imagine her mom's reaction when hearing the news.

The nurse said that Greer should be able to walk after a few days, but she needed to give it at least four weeks for it to heal. Brenna was allowed to be with Greer because Greer needed help with getting around. The nurse sent Greer home early and Brenna decided just to skip her last period.

"You need to get back to class, Brenna." Greer said.

"Then how are you going home? Don't tell me you're driving because you're not going to make it. I'm taking you home." Brenna said, and she knew she won because Greer smile a little.

"You're right. I totally forgot."

"And you're still smiling. I admire you, Greer." Brenna admitted.

Greer shook her head like it was nothing and tried to get up; but as soon as she tried, her foot couldn't take the pressure and she fell back down to the bed she was sitting on. Brenna came to her rescue and put Greer's arm over her shoulder so that Greer could lean on her, but Greer still had trouble walking.

Putting Greer back down onto the bed, Brenna turned her back to Greer and told her to get on.

"Greer, get on my back." Brenna offered and knelt down on the floor.

"What?" Greer said, totally was taken aback.

"I'm going to give you a piggyback ride." Brenna said.

"You're not. I can walk." Greer got up and immediately she needed to hold onto something, someone, like Brenna.

"Yes, Greer. You're going on my back." Brenna's voice was serious. Greer had a few more seconds of hesitation but finally she agreed to get on.

Brenna used the bed to help her get up and Greer buried her face into the curve of Brenna's neck and Brenna sucked in a breath.

"I am so embarrassed right now." Greer mumbled.

Brenna wanted to say _I am so turned on right now_, but she didn't.

Brenna walked out of school with Greer on her back. The car would have to stay at the school parking for the time being. Carrying Greer wasn't easy, since Brenna was not a strong girl herself, but it was bearable. They stopped a few times on the way to rest, and even though Greer insisted to walk every five minutes, Brenna wouldn't let her. Maybe because she liked the closeness, maybe because she liked the fact that Greer was very vulnerable at the moment. Greer always showed everyone her carefree and happy side, so in time like this, Brenna was glad that she was able to protect her.

"You're stronger than I thought, Brenna Carver." Greer said as she got on Brenna's back for the third time.

"I didn't even know until today," Brenna said, then thought about what she just said for a moment and chuckled.

"What?" Greer asked.

"What I said just hit me really hard, because I didn't know I was strong until you, Greer. Before we met, I was this moody girl that hated the sunshine and thought that the world was unfair. I never had the courage to do anything past my comfort zone because I was desperately trying to fit in with everyone," she gulped, and then continued, "but you came along and pulled me out of every comfort zone I had, and what shocked me was that I didn't hate it. So, Greer, you're the reason why I am strong."

They fell into silence. Brenna thought what she said was too cheesy and that Greer probably thought she was insane. But before she could find a hole to jump in to hide her embarrassment, Greer said in the tiniest voice,

"I want to kiss you right now."

Brenna stopped in her tracks because the way Greer spoke against her ears caused her knees to go weak.

"But because I can't possibly kiss you on the lips right now," she went on, "so I'm just going to give you a peck," and then she gave Brenna a peck on the cheek.

Brenna seriously considered putting Greer down and have a full on make out session with her, but she let the thought slipped away because of Greer's condition.

"You owe me, then." Brenna said out loud, as if wanting the whole world to be her witness.

"Sure." Greer laughed, and then gave Brenna another peck, this time on the corner of her mouth.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N**: I heard you! Thank you so much for your support and here is your next chapter! I tried to make Greer and Brenna stay close to their characters as much as possible but because we've only seen 7 episodes with them so far so it's hard to predict where the characters would go. So let me know if you think they're too out of characters? because I would love to keep them as close as possible.

And I had a long day at college today so please forgive me if there are a few errors that you noticed. I will try to go back and fix them later!

* * *

Greer parents were waiting for her in the living room when she got home. By the look on their faces, she knew the school already informed her parents about the incident. Greer wasn't surprised, because when the housekeeper opened the door for her, she saw it on the lady's face, the look of pity and compassion.

Greer had Brenna dropped her off right there. She was sure she didn't want Brenna to watch what was going to happen once she faced her parents. Luckily, Brenna didn't fight her this time and just nodded. Brenna had transferred Greer to the housekeeper, Rosa, and headed to her place.

"I'm in big trouble, am I?" Greer had asked as Rosa helped her get inside.

"You know your parents." Rosa had whispered back.

If this was just like any other ordinary day, Greer would love to get home from school and see her parents were actually home; but that day wasn't just like any other day. That day Greer wished her parents weren't home at all.

Rosa set Greer down on the leather sofa opposite from her parents. "Mom...dad..." She mumbled with her head hung low.

"Greer Danville," her mom said with a stern voice, "I think we need some explanations."

Greer looked up at her parents and she suddenly felt powerless. Her mom clearly looked disappointed, and her dad, well he was focused on the newspaper he was reading and didn't even look up. Her parents weren't abusive, but they had always been strict with her educations. When she was young, her grandma was her own guardian angel, but now no one could help her. Greer knew she had to tell them the truth. Even if she lied, her parents were going to find out anyway. They had that power.

"It...It was a misunderstanding," she began, "I was having lunch and some girls came by, they...they said some stuffs and we ended up in a fight but it wasn't as bad as the school reported."

"Then what happened to your foot?" Her mom pointed out.

"I fell," she replied.

"The school told me you were in a fight with two girls. One of them is a Carver. Isn't that the family that rent our property?"

"Yes, but—"

"Do you know how embarrassed and disappointed we felt when we got the phone call? We never received a phone call like this before, Greer."

"I'm sorry."

"You and that Carver girl, you two are close?" Her mom asked. She understood perfectly what her mom meant.

"We're good friends." She said.

"You need to redefine 'good friend' Greer. A friend that got you into trouble is not a good friend." Her mom said. Her dad hadn't been saying anything, although he did put down the newspaper and was listening to the conversation.

"It wasn't Brenna's fault, mom. Like I said, the whole thing was a big misunderstanding." Greer explained. Her mom shook her head as if she wasn't taking any excuses.

"About the detention," her mom switched topic, "we already cleared your record with the school. You don't have to do it anymore, but we don't want you to get in trouble again at school. Do you understand?"

"Yes, mom."

"How is your foot?" Her mom asked, this time with a softer voice. Greer thought she would never ask.

"It's good," she said, "The nurse told me it should heal in about four weeks."

Her mom nodded, and Greer knew her mom was done with showing affection.

Greer wasn't wrong, because her mom said, "Go to your room." That was the end of the conversation.

Rosa helped Greer to get upstairs to her room. Her mom and dad left to do something but they said they would be back for dinner. After thanking Rosa, Greer closed the door and flopped down on her bed. It was a long day, but Greer was glad that her mom didn't ask too much on the topic. She turned to her right side, staring out to the balcony through the sheer white curtains, when she noticed a moving shadow. She knew who that was. Greer got up from her bed, and with much difficulty, she hopped out to the balcony to meet Brenna.

"Maybe you should change your curtains," Brenna said when Greer came out, "People can see you from out here."

Greer laughed. "Who else can see me besides you? Your room is the only one that is opposite of mine."

"Oh yeah?" Brenna raised her eyebrows, and smiled mischievously, "Then I take that back. Don't change your curtains."

"I like this side of you." Greer smirked.

"Everything okay?" Brenna asked.

Greer hesitated for a moment because she wasn't sure of how to tell Brenna about the detention. She didn't think it was right for her parents to do that. It was humiliated that her parents had to do something, who knows what, to get her out of trouble.

"My parents got me out of detention." Greer finally said, her face full with shame.

However, Brenna's face lit up and that caught Greer by surprise.

"That's great, Greer!" Brenna said cheerfully, "I'm glad your parents could get you out of it."

"I'm sorry, it's all because of me. I still think it's better if I go to detention with you."

"It's not your fault. If you have to serve detention I'll feel terrible."

"No I'm the one that feel terrible." Greer pouted, and then she remembered that the school also informed Brenna's mom.

"And how did your mom react?"

"A little mad," Brenna scrunched her nose, "but she's cool, I only need to do the dishes and clean the bathrooms for one week."

"That's not bad." Greer laughed, and Brenna laughed along.

"Yea, not too bad." Brenna said.

* * *

The next morning Greer's dad took her to school. Greer didn't expect that at all. She was half sad and half happy. She was sad because she wouldn't be able to go to school with Brenna, but happy because it had been a long time since her dad last drove her to school. _Maybe this was a blessing in disguise_, Greer thought.

Greer had sent Brenna a text about the situation, and Brenna texted back that her mom would drive her to school. Knowing Brenna didn't have to walk made Greer feel less guilty.

In history, Mrs. Collins dedicated the whole period for the students to work on their project because it was due the next week. Brenna walked over to Greer's desk and took a seat in front of it. They already finished theirs, so there was nothing to do. The other groups loudly discussed their projects and Greer overheard the group behind her talking about how they didn't have enough time, which Mrs. Collins also heard and said, "Oh, tell me more about this sad story!"

Mrs. Collins was absolutely pleased when she learned that Greer and Brenna had finished their project. Some groups groaned and shouted, "I want you on my team, Greer!" And Brenna quickly shouted back, "Sorry, but she's on my team." Greer blushed, because she was, indeed, completely on Brenna's team even though she was sure Brenna was just meant that they were in the same group.

That day, despite the fact that Brenna told Greer at least ten times to just go home and not to wait for her, but Greer decided to wait anyway. She wanted to make it up for not having to serve detention.

All students serve detention in the art classroom. Through the window, Greer could see the art classroom was rather empty with only three students, Brenna and Ford included. Brenna was sitting all the way at the back while Ford was all the way to the front. They both sat as far from each other as possible. The art teacher, Ms. Fitzpatrick, was concentrating on her painting and the students appeared to be left to their own devices. Greer took out her cellphone from her backpack and sent Brenna a text.

**Greer:** You look bored.

Greer looked into the classroom again and saw Brenna reached into her sweatshirt's pocket and took out her cellphone. About five seconds later she received a reply.

**Brenna Carver**: I am.

**Brenna Carver**: Wait, how do you know?

Greer smiled and texted, '_Look to your left_.'

Brenna noticed Greer behind the window and Brenna didn't look thrill. She proceeded to grab her pencil on the table to write something on a piece of paper. She looked at Ms. Fitzpatrick, making sure the teacher wasn't looking, and then she showed Greer what she wrote.

_WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?_ It said on the paper, with all letters capitalized. At the end she added a sad face.

Greer pulled out her own notebook and pen to write back to Brenna. After she finished writing, she stuck it to the window.

_I'm waiting for you._

A few of Greer's friends passed by and she had to talk to them really quick without making a lot of sound so Ms. Fitzpatrick won't get distracted. When she turned her attention back to Brenna, there were new words on the paper Brenna was holding up. '_Go home.'_ It read.

Greer shook her head, signaling Brenna that she wasn't going anywhere. Brenna grabbed her phone this time and Greer received a text a moment later.

**Brenna Carver**: You just want to get another piggyback ride, aren't you?

Greer chuckled at the text. That wasn't actually her intention, but now that Brenna mentioned it, she should just play along.

_Maybe_. Greer replied.

**Brenna Carver**: You're the worst.

Greer had been sitting on the floor and doing her homework when Brenna walked out of the classroom and called her name. Greer checked her phone and it was exactly four thirty. She saw Ford coming behind Brenna, as if wanting to catch up to say something; but as soon as Ford saw Greer, she turned around and walked away. She wondered what Ford wanted to say. Brenna put her backpack in front so that Greer could get on her back. Greer's foot was a bit better, and she was certain she could walk with support, but she didn't say anything. She liked the attention Brenna was giving her.

* * *

The walk home was just like yesterday, with a bit of rest on the way and small talks. The weather was freezing with a bit of wind, so Greer kept her hands on Brenna's face to keep her warm. Brenna asked Greer to come over for dinner, which she agreed because her parents weren't going to be home.

Sammie was happy to see Greer. He jumped up onto Greer's lap and just stayed there, without thinking that he was too big. Brenna's mom and grandma showed their concerns about her injury; and when Brenna's sister, April, got home, Greer received the same attention. Greer thought of how different this was with her own family, and it was kind of sad that she liked it here better than her own home.

After dinner, Brenna helped Greer walked to her room and went downstairs to do the dishes. Sammie had followed them but Brenna's grandma held him back when he was in front of Brenna's bedroom, and she gave them a wink. Greer heard Brenna mumbled something like "_We're not doing anything._" to her grandma when they walked down the stairs together.

As Greer sat awkwardly on the bed, studying the photos Brenna had on the dresser, Brenna opened the door and walked in.

"That was quick." Greer said, surprised.

"Mom said since you're over, I get a pass today." Brenna closed the door and Greer heard the click sound implied that Brenna locked the door.

"Do you have any homework?" Greer asked out of nowhere.

"I had a bit, but I finished them during detention." Brenna sat down next to Greer.

"I finished them, too." Greer said, and then she continued, "What do you want us to—"

Brenna leaned in and cut her words with a kiss.

Greer tensed but relaxed as Brenna cupped her face and one of Brenna's thumbs gently caressed her cheek. Chills ran over her body. How was that every kiss with Brenna left her breathless and wanting for more? Brenna ended the kiss and smiled at Greer. Greer couldn't help but smile back. Then, Brenna said in the most playful tone, "That was for the other day you owed me."

"I guess I have to pay for today as well." Without missing a beat, Greer pressed her mouth against Brenna, taking charge this time. Brenna lost her balance and they both fell on the mattress. Greer got on top of Brenna and deepened the kiss, their tongues touched. They were in too deep that they didn't hear the knocks on the door, until the doorknob rattled and they heard Brenna's mom from outside. They jerked apart as quick as an arrow.

"I'm coming, mom." Brenna said as she got up and fixed her clothing. Greer did the same thing. Brenna unlocked the door and her mom walked in with a tray of cookies and chocolate milk.

"I baked some cookies!" She said then set them down on Brenna's dresser. "Let me know if you want anything else. I'll be in the living room watching my show."

"Thanks, mom."

"Thanks, Mrs. Carver."

"Oh, Greer, why don't you stay over? Is it okay for you to stay over?" She suddenly asked. But she didn't wait for Greer to answer, because she went on, "I'll get you another blanket," and then she went downstairs.

Greer looked at Brenna, and Brenna just shrugged her shoulders. "So I guess we're having a sleepover." Brenna said.

* * *

Greer felt Brenna's lips on her neck.

She opened her eyes to darkness but she could feel Brenna's breath and lips on her. It immediately got her heart to race. She stirred and tried to turn but Brenna held her back.

"Brenna," Greer whispered, "what are you doing?"

"Shhh," that was all she said, her mouth still busied on Greer's neck. Greer's heart was about to jump out of her body. She stirred stronger this time, and she was able to turn and face Brenna.

"I...I think we should go back to sleep. We have school tomorrow."

"It's barely two. I couldn't sleep and all I want to do is to kiss you."

Greer stared intensely at Brenna. Not that she could see anything in the dark, but her eyes were slowly adjusting and she could spot Brenna's eyes, in their best 'puppy eyes' look. Greer sighed because she knew she couldn't resist them, not with Brenna. So she closed their distance once again and that was all it took before their tops came off. Brenna climbed on Greer and ran her hands over the curves of Greer's body. Their lips sealed and their legs tangled. Brenna began to move against Greer, and even through the layers of clothing, it was more that what Greer could ever imagine. Greer lifted her hips to meet with Brenna and they both moaned at the contact. At that moment she just wanted to be closer to Brenna. Her hands started to explore and Brenna buried her head into Greer's chest. She placed small kisses while moving back and forth. Greer closed her eyes preparing for the coming wave of feeling. When it arrived, her fingers and toes curled from the overwhelming feeling and she hugged Brenna tight until her heart rate got back to normal.

"Holy shit," Brenna said.

"Yea. Holy shit." Greer repeated, her eyes still closed. Greer didn't think she could recover from this feeling.

"You okay?" Brenna asked quietly, her hand caressing Greer's cheek.

"I've never felt better." Greer slowly opened and looked at Brenna. Her hand grabbed the hand that was caressing her cheek.

It was then, in the darkness, on a cold December night, that Greer realized she wanted Brenna more than anything else that matters. She was the Little Red Ridding Hood while Brenna was the Wolf. Maybe their story wouldn't turn out like the fairytale in the books. Maybe they would be able to have a happy ending. Looking into Brenna's eyes, Greer knew that she would do anything just to get a happy ending, even if that meant she had to fool the ones that wanted to kill the Wolf.

Greer held onto hope and they fell asleep in each other's arms in the dark.


	10. Chapter 10

Greer saw herself having a picnic with her parents. Her mom dressed in the red dress that she had always loved, and her dad in his favorite checkered shirt. They looked quite young, Greer thought, but they looked happy. Her mom was smiling, and her dad was playing with his guitar, something he would do all the time when she was little. Greer didn't understand what was going on and why she was seeing all of this. Her mom smiled at her, and she reached out to touch her, but couldn't quite touch her. After a few seconds, her mom then said, "Go play."

That was when Greer saw a younger version of herself playing in front of her. Blonde hair, flowers wreath, and white cotton dress. She was about six, and was dancing to the song her dad had been playing with the guitar. It brought back memories when they used to be a perfect family.

The younger version of herself ran into her mom and gave her mom a hug. Her mom then whispered, "_Go pick me a flower_," and off little Greer went.

Greer noticed there was a dog watching them.

Her younger self ran into the wood while her mom watched. The dog followed.

The next scene Greer saw was her parents screaming and the dog, no, the wolf, was already dead. Blood smeared all over little Greer's white cotton dress. Greer wanted to scream but she couldn't make any sound. She then heard someone calling her name from another direction and she decided to follow the voice. The sky above got brighter and brighter until she jolted awake from her sleep. She looked around frantically, still trying to register what she just saw.

It was just a dream.

Brenna, who was sitting beside her, was very concerned. She said she had heard Greer whimpered and looked like Greer was having a bad dream.

"Are you okay there?" Brenna asked.

Swallowed her fear, she nodded. "Just a bad dream. What time is it?"

"Almost seven."

"I should go home and get my clothes." Greer pushed herself up from the mattress.

"Don't worry, my mom got you covered." Brenna smiled and pointed at the neatly folded uniform on her dresser. "Your housekeeper, I think her name is Rosa? She brought it over."

Greer silently reminded herself to thank Rosa later. Brenna went on, "New toothbrush is in the second drawer. The bathroom is all yours. I'll be downstairs helping my mom with breakfast. Let me know when you're done so I can help you down the stairs."

Greer nodded and tried to get out of bed. Her ankle felt better than the other day, and that was a relief. She told Brenna that she could get to the bathroom just fine, so Brenna went downstairs and left her on her own. She half hopped, half walked to the bathroom that was between Brenna and April's room. As she was brushing her teeth, she thought about the dream and at how strange it was because she rarely has nightmares; but then she thought, maybe because she was thinking too much. She decided to stop wondering about it and just shoved it aside.

Afterward, Greer actually needed Brenna's help to get down the stairs. She greeted everyone with her cheerful voice and Sammie followed her every chance he got.

"You are his mud person." Brenna teased while pouring the syrup on her pancakes. Sammie's ears perked as soon as he heard 'mud'.

"I like mud day," Greer grabbed the syrup bottle from Brenna, "because bath times are always fun. Don't you think so?" Greer said to Sammie, but it was obviously for Brenna.

"I agree," Brenna's grandma spoke up, "But, dear, it took so long to get him all clean." Greer almost choked on her first bite of pancakes. She totally forgot that Brenna's grandma was at the table as well. Next to her, Brenna was coughing up her milk. It made her laugh and she earned a kick from Brenna under the table. Luckily it wasn't to her injured foot.

* * *

Greer expected the whole school to be talking about them by now, but nothing had happened. No one mentioned anything about the relationship, or about Brenna to Greer. She guessed Ford decided to keep quiet. Greer had actually looked around for Ford because she wanted to have a talk with her, but Ford was nowhere to be found. Greer thought that either Ford was a ninja master, or she just had bad luck, and of course the first one was more plausible.

During lunch, Greer was called for a staffs meeting at the headmistress' office. Brenna helped her to the office building and said she would wait for Greer at the front desk, even though Greer told her that she shouldn't. One of the teachers walked by and told them to lower their voices, and Brenna whispered firmly, "I'm waiting for you!" Greer got that she wasn't going to win this one. She reluctantly nodded, and then headed to the meeting room.

When she entered the room, she saw most of staffs were already there. The freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior class officers. This meeting was quite special, because it was for the annual Christmas banquet, the most favorited event at Charton Academy.

The Christmas banquet, also known as The Charton Christmas Ball, was an annual banquet that their school held for all students. The school always held it on the last day of school before winter break, just to get the holiday spirit around. This banquet had been a tradition at Charton Academy for over fifty years, and it continually to be students' favorite. The school usually served an unbelievable amount of food, desserts, and drinks. There would be dancing, the crowning of Winter King and Queen, and not to forget the raffle prizes. One year, a freshman won a scholarship for his remaining years at Charton. Overall, this was an event where even the most anti-social student at school would've wanted to go.

They discussed about their plans for the banquet. The headmistress appointed the freshmen to take care of the food and the beverages. They could choose what to eat and drink because this was their first year. The sophomores were appointed to organize the music and the dance. The juniors were appointed for decorations and the seniors were appointed to take care of the Christmas gifts.

When Brenna heard about the banquet, she was truly curious. Apparently, she never paid any attention to the school's "dancing activity" (in Brenna's words), therefore she never heard about this before.

So Greer had some ideas in mind. A lot of ideas in mind.

* * *

After school, when Greer and Brenna were walking out the gate, arms wrapped around each other because Greer still needed help, she spotted the too familiar car parking right in front.

The white Cadillac obviously belonged to her parents. She wondered why her parents were at the school. They spotted her as quick as she spotted them, and her mom peeked out from the rolled down window. Her mom didn't say anything, but gestured her to get on the car. Greer looked at Brenna and Brenna just nodded, understood the situation.

Greer limped slowly over to the Cadillac while Brenna stood and watched. She looked back, gave Brenna a small wave, and then got into the car. Took a look at her parents, she realized they were all dressed up. Greer guessed they were about to go somewhere. Brenna stood there awkwardly for a minute then she walked passed their car to head home. Greer pulled out her phone from her backpack to text Brenna, when her mom said, "Tell your friend to get on as well."

Greer wasn't sure what her mom meant, and her mom said again, "I want you to invite the girl along."

Greer was utterly confused, because her mom never wanted to meet any of her friends. What was her mom's intention? She quickly asked herself. Did her mom know that they were more than friends?

But her dad started the engine and drove the car to where Brenna was walking. He turned the car so it blocked the way. Brenna was surprised when Greer's mom told her to get on the car. Greer sighed. She was certain her parents acted rude on purpose.

"Brenna," Greer said, "my parents want to invite you in the car," and she mouthed the word _please_, begging Brenna to come along. Brenna saw the distress on Greer's face and she walked to the other side of the car to get in. Once Brenna got inside the car, she politely thanked Greer's parents for taking her back to the house.

However, they weren't going back.

"We're taking you two to dinner," Greer's mom said.

"Mom, it's only three." Greer reminded her mom. Three was way too early to have dinner.

"First we're taking you two to get some new clothes. We're going to a high-end restaurant, and they required formal attire." Her mom said as a matter of fact.

"We can go home and change. I mean it's not that far, mom." Greer could tell Brenna was getting uncomfortable next to her.

"So I can't take you out to shopping now? I thought you've always liked it."

She did. She enjoyed all the shopping trips with her mom, but maybe not this time.

Brenna was silent for the whole ride, and Greer felt bad because her parents were totally intimidating. They drove for about 45 minutes to get to the boutique that her mom had in mind, and she forced them to put on at least five dresses each. Even Greer felt overwhelmed. Brenna didn't say a lot, but she was happily followed whatever Greer's mom wanted her to do.

After almost an hour, and state her disapproval on many dresses, Greer's mom finally said yes to two: A black strapless dress and a beige dress with beautiful embroidery on it. The black dress was for Brenna and the beige dress was for Greer. The total came out to be over one thousand dollars and Brenna gasped in horror.

"Mrs. Danville," Brenna said, "I don't think I can take this dress."

"It's on me." Greer's mom said, and just like that she swiped her card and they got out of that store a minute later. Greer was also in a state of shock herself.

When they arrived at the restaurant, it was about six. Her parents walked in hands in hands, and it made her smile. From behind, they looked just like any other madly in love couple; but then her smile faded when she thought about herself, because she felt invisible around them.

Brenna caught on with that, it seemed, because she said, "Just pretend we're on a date ourselves."

And she was right. They were wearing pretty dresses, going to eat good food, so they might as well just enjoy it.

"Did I tell you that you look incredible tonight?" Greer said, smiling.

"No, but I'll take the compliment right now." Brenna returned the smile.

* * *

Greer's parents reserved a table of four on the second floor of the restaurant, so they had it all planned out. Greer was still skeptical about the whole ordeal, but so far her mom hadn't said anything appalling and she hoped that her mom would steer away from that.

Then, as they were waiting for their food, the questions started.

"So you are Brenna Carver..." Greer's mom asked Brenna.

Giving Brenna no chance to answer, her mom asked another question, "How many people are in your family? And what are their jobs?"

"My sister is a reporter, and my mom is a therapist," Brenna answered proudly. "All of us, plus my grandma live together."

"How about your dad?"

"He passed away."

"Oh, pity." she said like she was surprised but Greer knew she wasn't. Her mom had look through the tenants' information and Greer had no clue why her mom wanted to ask Brenna these questions.

"Do you know what school you're going next year?" She went on.

Hesitated for a second, Brenna answered, "I don't know yet, Mrs. Danville."

"My daughter is going to Harvard." Greer's dad finally spoke up. "She has great goals and ambitions. My advice to you is to get started early, Brenna. Don't wait until the last minute."

Greer had no idea where the "_My daughter is going to Harvard_" came from, because she had never told her parents what university she wanted to go. She secretly grabbed Brenna's hand under the table and gave it a light squeeze. It was her way to send an apology and to give support. Brenna squeezed it back.

When Greer's mom was about to ask another question, the food came out. She let them finished half of their portion and then she continued with her questions.

"What is your ambition?"

"Umm..." Brenna put down her fork and took the linen napkin to wipe her mouth, "I don't have a specific ambition. I think if I can live happy with my family then I'm good."

"Really. No desire to achieve some thing big?"

"Maybe I do, but for right now I don't know." Brenna answered honestly.

"And you think you deserved to be with our daughter, when you basically have no dreams and ambitions for your future?" Greer's mom suddenly changed her tone and Greer could smell trouble was coming their way. She knew they were dating.

How did she know? Greer asked in her head, but maybe not, because her mom smirked and said, "I have eyes."

"Mom, please," Greer said, pleading her mom. "Please stop asking her all of those questions and let's eat our dinner."

"It's fine, Greer." Brenna said, but of course it wasn't fine.

"If you want to eat good food such as the one you're eating, if you want to wear pretty clothes such as the one you're wearing, and if you want to be with our daughter, you have to have ambition and goals." She said it loud enough that the family of eight from the next table could hear.

Greer glanced at Brenna and Brenna was clearly uncomfortable. Her mom was driving Brenna into a corner. Greer couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed Brenna's hand and said to her mom, "We're leaving," and pulled Brenna up with her; but as Brenna got up from the chair, she unknowingly bumped into the waiter coming from behind, and the wine glasses on the waiter's tray poured all over her dress.

"Oh mam, I am so sorry." The waiter apologized. He took out a handkerchief and was cleaning the mess on her dress.

"And she can't even keep the $599 dress clean. She had it for less than two hours!" Greer's mom exclaimed, annoyed at the disturbance at their table.

"I'm sorry." Brenna apologized to Greer's mom. Greer's mom just looked at her husband and said, "No table manner."

"Enough!" Greer yelled, which she received some judging eyes from the tables around. She had witnessed enough of her parents' unfair treatment towards Brenna. "I am taking Brenna home. I won't let you talk to her like she is a nobody anymore."

And she pulled Brenna away from that hellhole.

As they were walking away, Greer felt quite proud of herself because she had finally stood up to her parents. It would be lying if she said she wasn't afraid, but there was this happy feeling that she did something for Brenna.

She was too happy to notice Brenna was no longer holding her hand.

When she realized her hand was empty, she turned back to look and she saw Brenna walking to the opposite direction. Confused on what was going on, she ran to Brenna's side, stopped Brenna from going by grabbing onto the hand she held just a moment earlier, again.

"Brenna, where are you going?"

"I'm taking the T back." Brenna said, but didn't look at Greer.

"Brenna, what's wrong?" Greer was worried now, Brenna sounded like she was about to cry.

"I'm fine." Brenna said, her voice showed otherwise.

"No, you're not. Look at me." Greer cupped Brenna face with both of her hands, trying to get Brenna to look at her, and she saw tears running down.

"Oh my God, Brenna. Please don't cry." Greer said frantically and pulled Brenna in for a hug, but Brenna pushed her away.

"Please, I want to be alone right now," Brenna wiped her eyes and turned her face away from Greer, "I need to do some thinking, something that your mom thought I couldn't do."

"I'm sorry about my parents. I really do. I don't know why they're so terrible. Please at least let me take you home. I don't feel good if I let you take the T home alone." Greer tried her hardest to explain, to get Brenna to calm down. Brenna shook her head, meaning she wasn't up for any explanation.

"I just want to go home and think, Greer. April's workplace is nearby. I can go look for her and take the T with her."

She let her go.

_Okay_.

That was what Greer said, and Brenna walked away.

And she hid behind her parents' car and cried until her parents found her.

They all drove home in complete silence. The coldness inside the car dried all of her tears.

* * *

**A/N**: Thank you for still clicking that 'following' button even though I'm horrible at updating these days :) I'll just blame school for that...but those and your reviews really encouraging me to write so please keep them coming!

It is now 5am, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** I'm getting into the bad habit of updating every Monday now, which I don't want! I want to at least put 2 chapters up per week but I couldn't :( Let's see how this week goes!

As always, thank you for reading!

.

* * *

Brenna had never felt more insulted in her entire life.

Sure, there were times where she was teased for being the most "emo" girl in the class, or the time when she was teased for having a "dead father", but she thought this time Greer's parents really took the cake. That whole dinner scenario was something she thought she would only see it in a movie, and she couldn't believe it had happened to her. Greer's parents had made Brenna feel worthless with just their words, and even though she was angry, she couldn't deny the harsh truth that they were right, that Greer was way too good for her.

Wiping the tears from her face, Brenna headed to the Boston Post to find April. She was thankful that it was still early, therefore she knew April would still be at the office. If this had happened late at night, she wouldn't know what to do.

* * *

Brenna wished she had brought an extra coat because the wind was getting chilly. The street to the Boston Post had already been decorated with Christmas decoration, and it somewhat cheered Brenna up a bit. She arrived at April's office two blocks later, but decided not to go up because she didn't want to disturb her sister. Instead, she sat by the bench outside the building and let her mind wandered.

She saw a mother with three young children, and the mother was too busy talking on the phone to notice her children were crying. She saw an old couple, arms wrapped around each other to keep warm. She saw a guy in suit ran as he looked at his watch, probably trying to catch the T home in time. She saw a teenage boy walking alone with his head down; sometimes he looked at his phone as if waiting for a call to come. She saw a lot of people, and each of them did different things. Brenna thought about how she was sitting on the bench, watching the people as they walked past her. She was the protagonist and they were the supporting characters, the characters in the background of her story; but to them, to all of them, she was the background character. It's funny how life works.

There was a tap on her shoulder and she turned around, to see April was standing next to her. Her sister's face was full on frowning and Brenna knew April wanted some explanations.

"I was waiting for you to get off work." Brenna said.

"Well, obviously. But why were you waiting for me? You're wearing dress." April asked.

Brenna sighed, got up from her seat, and started walking toward the subway station. She motioned April to follow her.

"Brenna Carver!" April called, "You better give me a good explanation!"

And even though April had said that, she never asked more questions. Maybe they had sisters telepathy, and maybe April could read her face. They stayed quiet the whole time. April even let Brenna stayed in front while she walked behind.

April was the kind of sister that was more like a mom than a sister. They were eight years apart, and there were a lot of things they never could do together like other sisters. At twelve, when Brenna first had a crush on someone, April was already twenty. Twelve-year-old Brenna and twenty-year-old April had nothing in common. That was the down side of the age gap. Brenna couldn't talk to April about her silly crushes and feelings.

But April always tried to do the normal sisters stuffs with her, and Brenna knew that. Brenna knew it was hard for April too, when she was an only child for eight years then suddenly there was Brenna. For as far as she could remember, April was always a little protective and acted more like a mom than a sister. Maybe that was why they never really had a chance where they actually sit down and talk. April felt too much like mom and Brenna liked to keep secrets to herself.

The subway came at exactly seven. It wasn't too crowded, so they managed to find two empty seats to sit down. April was staring at her now, obviously waiting for her to speak first.

She decided to do the sister thing.

"I was at a dinner with Greer and her parents before I went looking for you," Brenna began, "Greer's parents invited me out for dinner, so I accepted. It went okay at first, even though they were a little obnoxious, but it got worse when they told me I am unworthy to date their daughter because I don't have a specific ambition and apparently too poor for—"

"Wait, wait, wait!" April jumped in, "What did you say again? Date their daughter?"

Brenna was hoping April wouldn't hear that part.

"Uhm, yea, we're dating. We _were_ dating."

"Brenna, I didn't know you're into girls." April said. Her face didn't have a shocking expression, more like hurt because Brenna didn't tell her beforehand.

"If it makes you feel better, I didn't know either."

"So what happened next?" April asked.

"I kind of broke it with Greer and left." Brenna said and felt awful about it.

April gasped, but then she put a hand over Brenna's shoulder and said, "Not fair for Greer, but as your sister I'll have to side with you."

"I know it's not fair for her, but her parents are too much for me to handle right now."

"That's it? You called it off because of her parents?"

"Honestly, I also feel that she is too good for me." Brenna admitted.

"Don't you ever put yourself down, Brenna Carver. Screw the other people who put you down, but don't put yourself down, too. The only person that knows how strong you are is yourself. If you put yourself down, how are you going to ever know what you could achieve?"

"Wise words, mom."

"I'm not scary, you know. So the next time if you want to talk about your love life with me, feel free to do so. At least it will be less awkward than with mom. You have an older sister, me, so use me to your advantage. When I was dating Bryan at nineteen, I had so many firsts that I wanted to tell you but you were too young for all of those stuffs. Did you know that we had the first real kiss after a week and he—"

Brenna stopped April from going further into the story. "Oh God, April, even though I'm 17 now, it doesn't mean that I want to hear it. Besides, you broke up with him long time ago. Let's not bring it up."

"Just an example," April laughed, "if in the future you ever want to talk about that stuffs with me, I'm all ears."

"Yea. Maybe."

They didn't say anything else after that. At one stop, they gave up their seats for a very pregnant lady and her little daughter. Before they got off at their stop, April's phone rang.

"Mom's calling." April said.

And Brenna realized she never called her mom and informed her about the evening. She didn't even have her phone or her backpack with her. She left it in the car.

"Shit, I'm in big trouble." Brenna buried her face in her hands.

"I'll handle it." April reassured and she answered the phone. At the same time, they arrived at their stop and they hurriedly headed back home.

All Brenna could here was yelling voice through the phone after April told their mom that Brenna was with her. April tried to tell their mom that Brenna was with her and Brenna's phone was out of battery, but their mom was definitely still mad. As if the day couldn't get much worst.

April hung up the phone with a sigh, and Brenna also let out a sigh.

"I'm done for, am I?"

"I've done my best. I can only wish you best of luck now." April said as they turned the corner to their neighborhood.

Yes, _luck_, she certainly needed it, Brenna thought.

As soon as they reached home and Brenna turned the knob on the door, her mom was already standing behind it. April gave her a pat in the back and went in. The expression on her mom's face was mad, but Brenna saw a hint of worry as well. Her mom was about to say something, but she decided against it and pulled Brenna in for a hug.

"Oh Brenna," she said, "Do you know how worry I am? I couldn't call you, and I couldn't call Greer. I couldn't contact any of you!"

"I'm sorry, mom. There won't be a next time." Brenna apologized.

Her mom pulled out from the hug, frowning gently.

"You better not."

It wasn't the worst day ever; at least her mom went easy on her. Her mom started to heat up the food but Brenna excused herself from dinner because she didn't feel like eating. She headed upstairs to her room, and met April halfway as she just got out from the bathroom. April asked Brenna about eating dinner, and Brenna told April that she was tired. April nodded and left; but before Brenna could enter her room, she heard April said, "Don't let the adults be the reason for you to give up, okay?"

Brenna nodded, without turning back, and then she entered her room and closed the door.

* * *

8:20PM

Brenna carefully took off the dress and folded it neatly. She put it by the dresser, and reminded herself that she needed to return it.

9:30PM

Greer wasn't home. Brenna needed her phone.

10:10PM

No car in the driveway, no lights in Greer's room. Brenna really needed her phone.

10:45PM

Brenna heard the car engine, and right away she ran out to the balcony to see what was going on. Since she didn't want anyone to see her, she hid behind the curtains.

The Cadillac's engine turned off, and she saw Greer's parents walked out. A few seconds later, Greer followed. She was still wearing her dress, and her face looked so heartbreaking that Brenna hated herself for it. No one said a word, and no one even spare a glance at each other. Greer didn't go inside like her parents, but instead she walked to the garden. Brenna took a few steps back, afraid that Greer could see her behind the curtains. Brenna made sure her lights were off, so that Greer would assume she was sleeping. Greer sat still next to the tree at the garden for at least ten minutes. It was too dark to see clearly, but sometimes Brenna could see Greer brought her hands up to her face, which only later Brenna realized Greer was wiping her tears. This tugged at her heartstrings so much that she had to retreat to her bed because she couldn't bear to watch it anymore. Brenna ended up crying herself to sleep.

The next day, Brenna stayed home from school.

She was tired, her eyes all puffed up from the crying, so she asked her mom to let her stay home for that day.

Which meant her mom made her stay in bed all day.

"You do look terrible," her mom had said in the morning, "stay in bed and get some rest."

Brenna took the opportunity to sleep her sorrow away.

* * *

On Friday, Boston had it first snow of the season.

Brenna woke up to a freezing cold room even though the heater was on. She then realized she forgot to close one of the windows. Brenna reluctantly got up from bed and walked over to close the window, when she saw the ground had already covered in snow.

There was no school that day either. Even April stayed home from work.

It was a perfect day for couples to do a lot of things together, but Brenna had no one and it sucked.

She didn't know why she was so stubborn. Greer house was next door, she could've gone over and fixed everything up. She honestly had considered it a few times, but each time there was always a small voice in her head telling her not to do it. _You're not worth her time. She should be with someone better. Her parents said so!_

And on Friday night, Brenna blamed herself to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

The next day, Brenna woke up to a noise from her balcony. Reluctantly, she got up from bed, slipped her feet into her slippers and tried to see what was outside. Upon opening the curtains, she saw the source of the noise.

Greer's cat was scratching the window. Brenna almost didn't see the cat, since its color blended in with the snow, but the blue eyes were hard to go unnoticed.

"Hey, you…" she said, and then she remembered she never asked Greer about the cat's name.

"What are you doing here?" She questioned the cat. Obviously the cat wasn't going to answer. She looked to the other balcony, but everything was still and silent. The snowing had stopped as well. Brenna unlocked the window and the cat confidently walked in, like it knew the place quite well.

She picked the cat up and checked it gender. It was a girl.

"So you're a girl...Then I'm going to give you a name…" Brenna pondered. "To make it easier for me, I'm just going to call you Lady Snow, okay?"

The cat meowed.

* * *

Brenna brought Lady Snow downstairs and dropped her in front of the fireplace. At first Brenna thought the house was empty, but her grandma emerged from the bathroom a few seconds later.

"Grandma, you're not going to your weekly meeting with your friends today?" Brenna asked curiously. Usually, her grandma had a get together with her friends every weekend.

"This old lady needs a week off," her grandma said, and then she spotted the cat sitting in front of the fireplace. "Oh, the cat is back?"

"It's Lady Snow." Brenna introduced.

"That's her name?" Her grandma sounded amused.

"Something I decided to call her. I don't know her name actually."

"Sammie is going to like this cat. Sammie?" Her grandma called out for their dog, who ran to the living room out of nowhere. Sammie immediately became aware of the cat, and he slowly walked over to observe. Lady Snow was just as chilled as ever.

Brenna asked about her mom and April. Her grandma said she wasn't sure, but they probably went shopping. Brenna was glad they didn't wake her up for that.

Before she walked back to her room and left her grandma alone, her grandma said Greer stopped by and returned the phone. Brenna stood still upon hearing Greer's name, and her grandma caught on with that.

"You girls fought or something?" she asked.

"I really don't want to talk about it. Can I have my phone please?"

Her grandma nodded, "Sure, my dear," and pointed to the phone on the kitchen island. Brenna retrieved her phone and headed back to her room. She checked the phone as she was walking upstairs and noticed that it had recharged.

* * *

It snowed again in the evening. April and their mom got back just in time before the snow. Beth also stopped by soon after that. From her room, Brenna could hear Beth talked about the food she was cooking for dinner. Apparently, Beth wanted to try out a recipe she found on pinterest.

Brenna decided to leave the room and see if they needed her help with anything. Beth gave her a big hug and showed Brenna what she was cooking, chicken and potato chowder for dinner. "The pictures on pinterest looked so good. I just have to try it!" Beth said with genuine enthusiasm. She assured Brenna that she didn't need her help because she already had April. Next to Beth, April was baking something. Brenna furrowed her brows since she never trusted April in the kitchen. April saw the looked on Brenna's face and shooed her away.

Brenna went to the living room to check on Lady Snow and Sammie. They were both asleep by the fireplace. She smiled at the sight, and wondered if Greer was looking for her cat.

At that moment, her phone received a text.

Her heart skipped a beat because the text could be from Greer.

And indeed, it was from Greer.

**Greer Danville: **

Not sure if you're going to read this.

But if you're reading this

Will you meet me at the balcony?

Brenna read them twice, and then she put the phone back in her pocket. Her mind was screaming _Greer texted me!_ But her legs wouldn't move.

She received another notification not long after.

**Greer Danville:**

Brenna, it's really cold...

Brenna sighed. She couldn't avoid Greer forever.

She headed upstairs, to her room, and out to the balcony like Greer had asked. She didn't see anyone at the opposite balcony. Only snow and darkness.

Confused, she looked around one more time and that was when the garden below lit up with lights. Brenna could see Greer standing on the ground smiling up at her, snow falling on Greer's blonde hair. She had missed Greer so much, and it was just a wonderful feeling to see her face again. Greer. Her Greer.

"What are you doing?" Brenna asked Greer, "Why are you standing there? It's snowing."

"Read the words!" Greer shouted. Brenna thought to herself, _read what words?_

Greer pointed to the lights and apparently they were put into letters.

It spelled "SORRY"

Brenna pretended to be oblivious of it. "What do you want?" She asked.

"I want to apologize," Greer said, brushing off the snowflakes on her hair.

"It's not because of you." Brenna shouted back.

"I still want to apologize."

"It's cheesy."

"I like it cheesy." Greer shrugged.

"Why do you make it so hard for me to stay mad at you?" Brenna felt defeated.

Greer smiled, "Because I don't want you to stay mad at me?"

"Not funny, Greer."

"Look, Brenna, I just really missed you. I miss us," Greer sincerely admitted, "can we be back to normal?"

Avoiding the question, Brenna changed the topic. "I need my backpack back."

"Not until you give us another chance." Greer said.

"You're blackmailing me!"

Greer shrugged again. She was persistent.

"You don't understand, Greer," Brenna explained, "I don't see any future with us if your parents keep being like that."

"I don't care about what they think." Greer said.

"You do."

"I did. But now I don't. For you, I don't care anymore!"

"I don't know, Greer. I don't want to be the person that makes a good girl like you to rebel against your parents. I don't want to ruin you." She said that last part so soft that she was certain Greer couldn't hear it.

"You already did."

A chill ran through her body. She wasn't sure it was because of the breeze or because of Greer. "Yea, that'll make me feel better." Brenna said, hated that what Greer said was likely true.

"Sorry, Brenna. What I mean is that you're always in my mind. It's kind of hard to pretend we're nothing. It's impossible, really. For me at least."

"You are going to regret this." Brenna sighed.

"The future is unknown to all of us, but right at this moment I know pretty damn well that I want you." Greer said. Brenna flushed because it was kind of hot.

But just to make herself feel better, to put her mind at ease that she had tried to push Greer away, she said, "Your parents will go crazy."

"I told you I don't care." Greer threw her hands up, clearly frustrated. A snowflake or two fell on her nose, which caused her to sneeze. Brenna totally forgot about the snow. Greer looked up at her with such intensity that Brenna felt like she had to do something right then.

She closed the door and went inside.

Her mind was processing all kind of thoughts. There was no backing out again if she was going in for it this time. They were going to make this work.

Brenna had made her decision. She ran out of her room, down the stairs, past grandma who was knitting her first scarf of the season, past Sammie and Lady Snow sleeping together, past April and Beth taking out a burnt batch of cookies, past their mom taking pictures of April and Beth with said burnt cookies, to the door, out to the garden, out to Greer.

Greer was sitting next to the lit lights, with her head down and her back to Brenna. The snowfall seemed to be heavier comparing to early in the evening. Brenna tried to walk toward Greer as quiet as possible, but she didn't think Greer would notice the sound anyway, since she could tell from the shaking shoulders that Greer was crying. She walked up to Greer and after a moment of hesitation, she knelt down and hugged Greer from the behind.

Greer was surprised. She turned and looked at Brenna with her red eyes still filled with tears. Brenna cursed herself and believed that she just received the _Horrible Person of the Year_ award.

"Why are you crying, silly." Brenna asked. She didn't expect Greer to answer her, because she knew why. She then switched position so that they were facing each other. She used her thumbs to wipe the tears off Greer's cheeks.

"I'm sorry." Brenna apologized. Greer just shook her head.

"Please. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Brenna repeated, "please don't cry. Please don't give me the horrible person of the year title."

That finally made Greer chuckle.

"I thought that when you went in it was over for good." Greer said as she wiped her own tears.

"You think I'm a heartless bitch?"

That made they both laugh.

"You planned to just sit here and cry? You'll freeze to death."

"I don't feel cold anymore." Greer said.

"Yea?"

"I missed you so much." Greer put her hands on Brenna, cupping her face.

"Me too." Brenna agreed.

They held onto each other's face for a moment, just spending that moment looking and searching for any voice of reason to tell them to stop and that they shouldn't be together; but there were none.

So the next moment their lips touch and Brenna felt everything was right in the world again. She had missed Greer. She had missed her lips. She had missed this; missed the closeness and the feeling Greer stirred inside of her. If Greer parents came out and stopped them right at that moment she would give them the middle finger and continue on. She never gave any adult the middle finger. Their kiss meant that much.

Brenna pushed Greer down and Greer's back hit the snow-covered ground. Brenna was relieved that Greer was wearing a thick coat. Staring into Greer's eyes, Brenna thought this was rather romantic. Even though they had missed out on the first snow, this second snowfall day wasn't bad at all. Greer pulled Brenna closer and went in for another kiss. And another. Her tongue teased Brenna's lips and Brenna giggled. Greer delivered another tease and this time Brenna took charge, with the intention of not letting go. Greer's lips tasted like vanilla.

"Hey, girls!"

They both groaned. They were caught again.

They turned to look at Beth, who still had her apron on. She looked like she had just won the lottery.

"I knew it!" Beth yelled, and then she covered her mouth. She turned around to look at the house, to see if anyone was coming out. After a few seconds of making sure that no one had heard her, she whispered, "Oh my God, I knew it!"

Brenna and Greer helped each other get up on their feet. They brushed down the snow on their clothes.

"I need a picture of you two!" Beth exclaimed. "I am so excited about this! Can I take a picture please?"

Beth took their photo anyway, before they can even answer.

"Brenna! When did this happen?"

"It's kind of a long story." Brenna said, and gave Beth the _You better stop asking_ look.

"Alright. Dinner is ready. Let's go in, Greer. Brenna is giving me that serial killer look if I ask her more questions. I'm just going to ask you instead." Beth said to Greer, pulling her away from Brenna and back to the house. Greer turned back to look at Brenna and gave her a shrug. Brenna shrugged back, and smiled at how different Beth and April were. She glanced at the garden one more time and then followed them into the house.

But she didn't notice the parked white Cadillac in the background.

* * *

**A/N**: Yay! I did it! 2 updates this week!

Thank you for your feedbacks, I'm glad you found them in characters (I will try my best on that). And you see, I couldn't keep them away for much longer. They're going to fight for each other. Greer's parents will do some more damages but that's for future chapters.


	13. Chapter 13

Greer had been picking up Brenna for school again. Her ankle hadn't completely healed yet, but it was getting much better. She could walk comfortably without feeling any pain. Greer would drive Brenna to school and back home, they would hang out at have dinner at Brenna's. Greer never talked to Brenna about her parents again, not that Brenna wanted to talk about them either; though she was curious, because Greer's parents obviously knew they were back together. Brenna had noticed the Cadillac several times when they got home from school, but Greer didn't even give it a glance. Brenna wondered if Greer just pretended not to see it, or that she really meant it when she said she didn't care.

Brenna never thought it would happen, but she actually enjoyed going to school these days because their school was getting festive. Every single classroom had been decorated with Christmas decorations. They also put up Christmas trees; one big tree in the middle of the school ground, and another one in the stadium, where they were going to host the banquet. The smaller trees were put in the special rooms such as the principle and teacher's offices. Brenna knew because Greer had told her about the tree in the headmistress' office after Greer had her staffs meeting, and how the headmistress had a rather strange taste for her ornaments.

The banquet had been the number one talking topic at school. The freshman and new students were especially excited because it would be their first. Brenna had asked Greer for more information about the ball and what to expect, but Greer was keeping her mouth zipped because she said she wanted Brenna to have _"an experience of a lifetime."_ No kisses could move her, but Greer did mention that they should start practicing for the dance.

_Oh, the dance_. Brenna had no experience in doing formal dance. In her last three years of high school, she never went to a dance once. Greer had reassured her by promising she would teach her the basic steps. So beside the actual banquet, that was also something she was looking forward to.

The students had already started to ask out other students to be their dance partners. They put this as their priority because most of them wanted to participate the dance with someone they liked, not with a teacher. That was another thing Greer had told Brenna. If a student couldn't find a dance partner but still wanted to participate in the dance, they would have to do the dance with a teacher. Greer, of course, received plenty of invitations, mostly from guys, and she kindly rejected them. There were a few girls that came up to Greer in groups and asked, after they gave Brenna a smile and pretended that she wasn't there. Obviously, Greer rejected them all, but it was still uncomfortable for Brenna to witness.

Alongside with finding a dance partner, running campaign for Winter King and Queen was also a big deal. All the popular kids at school were fighting for the spotlight. Madeline Thompson, the head cheerleader, even gave out a hundred dollars gift card to those that voted. Greer wasn't running this year, because she was already crowned last year. In a way, Brenna was relieved that Greer didn't have to do the campaign; but then in all honestly, Brenna thought Greer would probably still won without doing all those stuffs.

* * *

One day, Brenna and Greer got back home after school to see her mom, sister, and grandma all waiting for them by the door. Her mom announced that they were going to pick out a Christmas tree and asked Greer to come along. Greer glanced at her home for a quick second and then said she would gladly join them. As her mom was driving away, Brenna saw Rosa by Greer's house, looking after the car with such sadness in her eyes.

They picked out a medium size tree at the local Christmas tree farm. After a several disagreements, everyone finally agreed on a tree. Her mom asked for delivery because their car wasn't equipped to bring the tree home, and the worker there promised to deliver their tree around dinner time. On the way back, they visited a few places to get all the decorations they needed.

When they arrived back, her mom quickly went to the kitchen to make dinner. It was another spaghetti night. Brenna heard Greer's phone rang twice, but she never answered them. When the tree arrived at half past seven, everyone quickly finished up their dinner so they could get on with the decoration. Brenna and Greer were assigned for the tree, while her sister and mom were taking care of the rest. Her grandma didn't have to do anything because she was, well, grandma.

The workers at the farm already helped them with setting the tree up into a pot, so now they had to water the tree and put the decorations up. The fresh tree smelled so good that everyone had to take a moment to take it all in. It had been years since they went out and get a real tree again. She never realized that she actually missed it.

Greer seemed to take everything in nicely. Brenna had questions, such as if Greer ever spent time with her family like this, or if they ever celebrated Christmas at all. Brenna didn't want to ask, seeing that it was a sensitive topic; but she thought that they should be honest with each other.

"Greer, I don't know if I should ask this, but I'm curious. Do you do this with your family?"

Greer hung an angel ornament, then said, "I remember that we used to, but not anymore. No Christmas tree for the last ten years."

"Gosh, that's just horrible. Does that mean you get no gifts as well?" Brenna handed Greer another one of the angel ornaments.

"Oh, I received plenty of offers and promises," Greer forced a laugh, "such as a family trip to ski resort, family trip to see my aunts and uncles, or family trip to the other side of the country. Those are the gifts that they promised, but they never fulfilled them. I was sad the first few years, but after that I just got used to it." Greer shrugged.

"You know what? You definitely need to spend Christmas with us. My mom sees you as her child now," Brenna laughed, "so you are always welcome here."

"She's right, you know," her grandma chimed in, "Sorry loves, I overheard you two talking…but I always love having you here."

Greer smiled shyly. Brenna gave her grandma a thankful look. Suddenly, she heard the sound of music coming from the kitchen. April then brought out some cookies, assured Brenna that she didn't make it, and told everyone that mom turned on the music to make the decorating more fun. Grandma agreed.

Greer dropped her ornaments, grabbed Brenna's hands and pulled her out to the middle of the living room. "I have an idea," she said.

"I don't think I'll like your idea."

"Well, you don't have a choice," Greer put one hand on Brenna's shoulder blade and held the other one up, expecting Brenna to hold it, "You have to practice for the banquet."

"Why can't we just dance? Why ball dancing? It's so formal." Brenna complained, but she held onto Greer's hand anyway. She put the other on Greer's shoulder.

"No idea. School rules, but you'll enjoy it. I know I did."

"So, tell me about your partners?"

"That's not important, Brenna. Now, when I step forward with my left foot, you're going to step backward with your right, okay? Then we step to the right with the other foot. To make a square, we repeat that but instead of me going forward and you going backward, we do the opposite."

"Okay, that sounded super confusing."

"Here," Greer said, and led Brenna with her movement. She stepped forward with her left foot, so Brenna automatically stepped backward with her right.

"Now, I'm going to slide to the right with my right foot, you will do the same with your left." Brenna was able to follow Greer with her instruction, and soon after she was able to finish the square. Greer said that was the basic of it, and if Brenna could dance comfortably to those steps, she would be good to go.

"You still haven't answered my question." Brenna reminded. They were still dancing to the music.

"The first year my partner was Zachary Green." Greer said.

"The guy in tennis?"

"Yep. He was terrible. He stepped on my feet all the time."

"How about your second and third?" Brenna asked carefully.

"Carol Tran and Madeline Thompson."

"Madeline Thompson? You went out with her?"

"Briefly…My mom set it up, but it didn't last. I think you know why."

"Because she's a bitch?"

Greer laughed. "Well, sort of…the important factor was she didn't like girls. She just used me for popularity. I was clueless. It was always hard for me to tell if the other girls like girls."

"You figured me out just fine." Brenna teased.

"You weren't easy, Brenna, but you do have a point."

A flash of light interrupted their conversation, and Brenna turned to see her mom was holding the phone and taking pictures.

"Keep going! Don't mind me. I'm just taking photos for memory." Her mom motioned them to keep dancing.

"Mom, it's weird now. You could've done it without flash and we wouldn't notice." Brenna said.

"Brenna, give her a break," April walked in the living room with the string lights around her shoulders, "She still doesn't know how to turn off the auto flash after having the phone for a year."

Brenna, Greer, April and grandma all chuckled.

"Alright," her mom crossed her arms, "Who breastfeed you until you were two, Brenna? Who changed your sheets when you still wet the bed at nine? Who went unicorn hunting with you when you were eleven?"

"Mom!" Brenna yelled in embarrassment. April laughed at her mother's revenge.

"Do you want to hear more, Greer?" Her mom offered. Brenna quickly apologized before her mom could tell Greer more embarrassing stories. Satisfied, her mom gave her a kiss on the head and went back to the kitchen.

* * *

After about an hour, Brenna and Greer retreated to her room. Greer suggested they should decorate Brenna's room as well, but Brenna thought that they had done enough for the day. In fact, Greer didn't even get a chance to say anything else before had her lips on hers. They backed to the bed and Brenna had Greer pinned to the mattress. Pulled away from the kiss, Brenna asked, "You never told me what happened to Carol Tran."

Greer tried to take in a breath. "She was a crush that I had after I came out. We went out for a few dates, but before anything could get serious she had to move away."

"You two could stay in contact."

"We did," Greer tucked a strand of hair behind Brenna's ear, "but we never worked out. Maybe I was waiting for you all along."

Brenna smiled down at Greer, but put back her poker face a second later, "Don't be so cheesy."

"Only for you."

"Stop! I cannot handle it!" Brenna buried her face against Greer's chest and laughed.

"Here's another one coming," Greer said. Brenna pulled up and looked at Greer.

"Will you be my dance partner at the Charton Christmas Ball?" Greer sincerely asked.

"How many days until the banquet?"

"It's next week."

"Then I might have to wait. Who knows someone is going to ask me to be his or her dance partner. I have to keep my spot available." Brenna said coyly.

"Then you've guaranteed your spot with an available teacher."

"I don't want to dance with a teacher. Ew."

"Take me then. Say yes."

Brenna grinned. Of course she was going to say yes. There was nobody else she would rather go with.

She answered with a kiss.

At the same time her mom walked in.

Brenna and Greer gasped in horror. They totally forgot to close the door. Brenna silently cursed at the situation. This was how all the teenagers got caught kissing in the bedroom by their parents.

Her mom stood still for a moment, mouth agape, and then she immediately backed out of the room and closed the door. Brenna and Greer took the chance to get up from their position and sat as far as possible on the bed. A few seconds later, her mom entered the room again.

"We should talk about this." Her mom said. She didn't sound mad which able Brenna to let out the breath she was holding.

"Greer," her mom continued, "Do you want to stay over or are you going home?"

"I think I should go home, Mrs. Carver." Greer said with her sweet voice.

"I baked a lot of cookies, tell April to get you some to bring home, okay?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Carver." Greer got to her feet, dashed to the door, and then she said her goodbyes.

"Goodnight, Mrs. Carver. Goodnight, Brenna."

After that Greer was gone, leaving Brenna alone with her mom. She closed her eyes, dreading the questions that her mom would ask. Her mom sat down on the bed next to her and reached for her hand.

"Brenna…" Her mom started, "I want to choose my words carefully."

"Can we please not make this a thing?" Brenna begged.

"I won't. But as your mother, I have questions. We should talk about this."

"Okay."

"Have you always had feelings for girls?"

"I don't know. I never have before."

"You like Greer? Are you two dating?"

"Yes…and yes," Brenna said, "Sorry, mom. I should've told you but I didn't know how."

"Okay," her mom said, "I got my answers."

"You're okay with us?"

"Knowing you, if I say I'm not okay, you're going to fight," her mom pulled her in for a hug, "but I'm okay, honey. As long as you're happy, and I can see that whenever Greer is around."

Brenna hugged her mom tighter. "Thank you, mom, for not freaking out."

Her mom got up, patted her on the head, and told her to call Greer.

"Tell her that I'm not an evil mom. I don't want her to get the wrong impression."

Brenna finally let out a laughed. She grabbed her phone on the nightstand, and called Greer's number. As soon as Greer picked up, Brenna proceeded to tell her "You're allowed to have as many sleepover as you like!" and she could hear her mom in the background rambling about separate beds and unlocked doors.

* * *

**A/N**: I want to point out that I borrowed some of the lines from the show, because I thought they executed that scene very well and I want to keep that.

And as always, thank you for your feedbacks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** Sending out my apologies. I'm sorry this took me over a week to update...but I do have my reasons. I'm studying for my finals at the moment so I don't have much time to write. My new term starts in November so I'll have more time by then, hopefully. My other reason is because I'm not entirely happy with what I wrote for this chapter. I deleted some and added some and then deleted some more...so I'm going to say sorry again if this chapter was a let down. Okay, no more excuses. Here's your chapter. Btw, I had planned to cover the banquet in this one, but I decided to put it in the next one instead.

* * *

In these last few days, Greer had been spending a whole lot of time over at the Carver's more than her own house.

After that night where her parents publicly humiliated Brenna, Greer didn't really speak to them anymore. They also didn't make any effort to talk to her, or to apologize, so Greer didn't see the point.

The house just felt too empty and cold to stay, especially now that no one was talking to each other. Greer rather stayed at the Caver's, where all of them treated her as family. She felt warm and welcomed there. The only thing that made Greer feel awful about leaving the house was seeing how sad Rosa was whenever she left.

Rosa was the housekeeper, and her only friend in the house, ever since Greer could remember. Rosa said she got this job to help her children with their college tuition in the Philippines, and that was probably over ten years ago. Her children were able to have good life in the U.S., and they even asked Rosa to retire but she told them she was too attached to leave the job.

When Greer first came out at the family dinner three winters ago, Rosa had cried, while her parents put on their poker faces. Greer wasn't surprised at the reactions she received. For her parents, she supposed that they had always known; and for Rosa, because she was a devoted Catholic, therefore Greer didn't expect any cheering from her. It took awhile for Rosa to understand, but she eventually came around and stopped praying to God that Greer would change. Rosa also stopped trying to set Greer up with her nephews, which Greer really _really_ appreciated.

* * *

Two days before the banquet, Greer asked Brenna to meet at the garden to practice one last time. Brenna brought Sammie outside and set him loose in the garden. Greer complained that they would never get any practicing done because Sammie kept on interrupting them, but Brenna laughed and said that was the intention.

"I'll never give up until he dug up some gold for me."

"I'll find you some gold." Greer said, her eyes full of mischief. Brenna raised her brows, as if sending Greer a challenge. Greer crouched down to scoop a handful of snow, rolled into a ball, and then threw at Brenna.

"There, I found it!" She laughed. Brenna sent one back to Greer. In the end, none of them was thinking about rehearsing for the dance anymore. They spent the evening throwing snowballs at each other, and playing fetch with Sammie. He was a happy boy.

When the sky got dark, they parted their ways because Greer was informed that her parents were going to be home for dinner. Not that she wanted to have dinner with her parents, given the fact that they weren't on speaking term, but her conscience told her to be a good daughter. Rosa had already cooked something when Greer got back because the house smelled wonderful.

"Your friend," Rosa said as she was setting the food on the dining table, "When are you going to introduce her to me?"

Greer beamed and said that she would in the near future. She had wanted to introduce them to each other, but she wanted to do it after she officially asked Brenna to be her girlfriend.

The doorknob turned and Greer looked up from the table to see her parents were home. They were in the midst of talking about something. Her mom was laughing at her dad like he just said the silliest thing. It was the first time Greer saw her mom genuinely laughed. The moment was cut short by the interruption of her cat, Daisy, who just strode in through the door and went around her parents. Greer guessed her mom must be in a good mood because she even gave Daisy some petting.

Her dad headed for the kitchen and finally noticed she was watching them. He seemed to be in a good mood as well.

"Greer! Glad to finally see you around," he said, "I bought you your favorite cheesecake. Red velvet, am I right?"

Greer nodded, surprised that her dad even remembered what she liked. Her mom came over a moment later. Even though the big smile was gone, she was still in a good mood. "Ready for dinner?" her mom asked.

It was strange to sit and have dinner with her parents again because their last dinner didn't go so well. Greer kept her quiet demeanor while her parents chatted about the day with Rosa. They didn't exchange any word until Greer left the table to get the cheesecake.

"How's school?" Her mom asked as Greer handed her a piece of cheesecake.

"Just the usual." Greer said. She handed her dad and Rosa a piece each.

"I called Ms. Miranda earlier this evening, she said you're having all A's. We're proud." Her mom said.

_So that was the reason_, Greer thought, _they called the headmistress_. It was not the first time. She had once told them that they could simply check her report through the school's website, but they had told her they liked to hear it themselves.

"I'm trying my best."

"The way Ms. Miranda praised you, Greer, you made us so proud." Her mom flashed that rare genuine smile again.

"Aim for that valedictorian spot." Her dad added and her mom nodded in agreement.

"Your school banquet is coming soon isn't it? Who are you going with?" Her mom changed the topic.

"I'm going with Brenna." Greer said without any hesitation.

"I see you're hanging out with her again."

"I really like her."

Her mom snickered, like Greer just said something so absurd. "There are many fish in the sea."

"And I'm not interested in them."

"You never know." Greer could tell her mom was getting aggravated by the stern in her voice.

"Please just leave us alone." Greer pleaded, not wanting to go on with her mom about the topic; but her mom wasn't going to let it pass.

"What is this attitude, Greer? Don't you see the bad influences that girl had on you? You're talking back to me now."

"I'm sorry. I just don't like the way you talk about her."

Her mom shook her head and got up from the table. She was not in a good mood anymore. As she headed to the sink to put down her plates, she said, "We will be gone for the next week. _Be good_."

Greer did some math in her head and Christmas was coming in six days. "So you won't be home for Christmas?"

"No. Your father was invited to a party in the West Coast that he needed to attend."

"Sounded like every single year." Greer mumbled, but her mom heard it anyway.

"It's important." Her mom gave the short explanation then walked away, to the bathroom where Rosa had prepared a bubble bath for her.

Her dad got up as well and patted her on the head. "Don't be so sad. There's always next year."

And Greer thought back to what her mom had said earlier, _"You never know."_

* * *

"You let them know we're back?" Brenna asked from her balcony. She was wearing a gray Nike hoodie. Greer thought Brenna looked really good in hoodie, or anything she wore.

"No hesitation." Greer said proudly.

"So it seems you really mean it this time."

"I meant every word."

"I really like you, Greer." Brenna said.

"I really like you, too." Greer said.

* * *

It was the night before the banquet. Greer had just gotten back home from dinner at Brenna's. She wanted to stay longer but Brenna asked her to go home because she wanted to try on the dress that had just arrived right on time. Brenna insisted that she didn't want Greer to see the dress beforehand so they agreed to meet at five the next day. Greer already knew what dress she was going to wear. The dark purple shade of the dress she had in mind would fit the theme and the atmosphere.

The next morning, Rosa prepared a bubble bath for Greer. Unlike her mom, Greer never felt comfortable letting Rosa do the stuffs that she could do herself, but Rosa just smiled and told her to go enjoy her bath.

Greer had to admit that she was feeling nervous since the moment she woke up. She thought of how silly it was, because this wasn't her first time going to the banquet; but other times she didn't have any plan to ask her dance partner to be her girlfriend. That was the nerve-racking part. Lowering herself into the tub, Greer closed her eyes and inhaled the candy apple scented candle that Rosa lit up. It smelled heavenly and familiar, which Greer couldn't put her mind on why it smelled familiar to her. The warm water eased of her worries and she didn't get out of the bath until the water turned cold. As she grabbed the towel and wrapped it around her body, Daisy entered the bathroom and jumped into the sink. The sink was one of her favorite spots. "Enjoy." Greer said to Daisy, and walked out of the bathroom to her room.

She picked up her phone on the bed and it showed that she had three new texts. One was from an unknown number. It read, "Hi, this is Lina. I got your number from Brooke. I hope it's okay. I just want to say I voted for you tonight. I hope you win!"

Greer wasn't sure whom Lina was, and why Lina voted for her when she wasn't running this year, but that was nice.

_Thank you, Lina_. She texted back.

The other two texts were from Brenna.

**Brenna Carver:** Good news, I love my dress!

**Brenna Carver:** Bad news, you'll love my dress.

Greer laughed at her phone screen, and then sent Brenna a reply.

**Greer:** Why would that be bad news?

**Brenna Carver:** I'll let you figure that one out yourself.

Greer was certainly looking forward for the banquet.

* * *

Walking into her closet, Greer saw the dress was laid across the table in the middle. She silently thanked Rosa in her head. She unwrapped the towel and stepped into the mid-length tulle dress. The French lace covered her sleeves and front but left the back open, created an elegant yet alluring look. Rosa came in to check on Greer and she was totally pleased.

"Oh my, look at you! You look beautiful."

"Thank you, Rosa."

"That color looks lovely on you. I bet your friend will love it." Rosa said.

"I hope she does." Greer glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost four.

"Can you do my hair?" Greer asked Rosa. She had no idea what kind of hairstyle she wanted, but Rosa was a braids master. Rosa could do any type of braids. She had three daughters after all.

Greer was not sure what kind of magic Rosa performed on her hair, but about fifteen minutes later the look was completed with braids around her head. Rosa called it the crown braids, and said that it complemented her dress. Looking at herself in the mirror, Greer agreed.

Brenna called her around five and asked if she was ready. Greer carefully put on her wine lipstick and said she would meet Brenna outside in five minutes.

Before Greer went out, Rosa stopped her for a few photos. Rosa said her parents asked for it but Greer highly doubted that. Looking out the window, Greer had a glimpse of Brenna and her heart already wanted to take a jump. She then quickly said her goodbye to Rosa, grabbed her coat, and then headed outside.

The weather was quite nice. Even though it was cold, it wasn't windy. Most of the snow from a few days ago had already melted away so it was easier to walk. She didn't want another sprained ankle after hers had just healed.

Brenna noticed Greer was approaching so she turned around. Greer couldn't tell what kind of dress Brenna was wearing because of her coat, but Brenna never failed to make her heart fluttered. As she got closer, she could see Brenna was also rather nervous.

"Hi," Greer said, giving Brenna a smile.

"H…Hi," Brenna nervously said back.

"Don't go all nervous on me now. It makes me nervous as well."

"You look amazing." Brenna said.

"You, too." Greer replied.

"Girls, mind if I take a few photos?"

They both turned to the direction of the voice and saw Brenna's mom waiting for them with her phone on her hand. Brenna whispered to Greer that she just spent thirty minutes inside posing for her mom. Greer laughed and told Brenna that all moms did that, with the exception of hers.

"You girls will thank me later," Sara said, "These are for the memories." She took a few more photos and then let them go. As soon as she was done, they went straight to Greer's car and drove to their first Christmas Ball.


End file.
